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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



J 



CONSTITUTION 



OF THE 



Commonwealth of Kentucky, 



ADOPTED BY THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, 
APRIL n, lS 9 i, AND SUBMITTED TO A VOTE 
^rl^ OF THE PEOPLE AT THE AUGUST 



ELECTION, i8 9 i. . 



press of Court er-Jottrnal Job Printing Co., 
louisville, ky, 




OP THE 



CONSTITUTION 



Commonwealth of Kentucky. 



PREAMBLE. 



We, the people of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, grateful to 
Almighty God for the civil, political and religious liberties which we 
enjoy, and invoking the continuance of these blessings, do ordain and 
establish this Constitution. 



BILL OF RIGHTS. 

That the great and essential principles of liberty and free govern- 
ment may be recognized and established, We Declare that : 

Section i . All men are, by nature, free and equal, and have cer- 
tain inherent and inalienable rights, among which may be reckoned : 

First: The right of enjoying and defending their lives and 
liberties. 

Second : The right of worshiping Almighty God according to the 
dictates of their consciences. 

Third : The right of seeking and pursuing their safety and happi- 
ness. 

Fourth: The right of freely communicating their thoughts and 
opinions. 

Fifth : The right of acquiring and protecting property. 

Sixth : The right of assembling together in a peaceable manner for 
their common good, and of applying to those invested with the power 
of government for redress of grievances or other proper purposes, by 
petition, address or remonstrance. 

Seventh : The right to bear arms in defense of themselves and of the 
State, subject to the power of the General Assembly to enact laws to 
prevent persons from carrying concealed weapons, shall not be ques- 
tioned. 



SEC. 2. Absolute and arbitrary power over the lives, liberty and 
property of freemen exists nowhere in a republic, not even in the largest 
majority. 

Sec. 3. All men, when they form a social compact, are equal ; and 
no grant of exclusive, separate public emoluments or privileges shall be 
made to any man or set of men, except in consideration of public serv- 
ices ; but no property shall be exempt from taxation except as provided 
in this Constitution ; and every grant of a franchise, privilege or 
exemption, shall remain subject to revocation, alteration or amendment. 

Sec. 4. All power is inherent in the people, and all free govern- 
ments are founded on their authority and instituted for their peace y 
safety, happiness and the protection of property. For the advancement 
of these ends, they have at all times an inalienable and indefeasible right 
to alter, reform or abolish their government in such manner as they 
may deem proper. 

Sec. 5. No preference shall ever be given by law to any religious 
sect, society or denomination ; nor to any particular creed, mode of 
worship or system of ecclesiastical polity ; nor shall any person be com- 
pelled to attend any place of worship, to contribute to the erection or 
maintenance of any such place, or to the salary or support of any min- 
ister of religion ; nor shall any man be compelled to send his child or 
children to any school to which he may be conscientiously opposed ; 
and the civil rights, privileges or capacities of no person shall be taken 
away, or in any wise diminished or enlarged, on account of his belief or 
disbelief of any religious tenet, dogma or teaching. No human author- 
ity shall, in any case whatever, control or interfere with the, rights of 
conscience. 

Sec. 6. All elections shall be free and equal. 

SEC. 7. The ancient mode of trial by jury shall be held sacred, 
and the right thereof remain inviolate, subject to such modifications as 
may be authorized by this Constitution. 

Sec. 8. Printing presses shall be free to every person who under- 
takes to examine the proceedings of the General Assembly or any 
branch of Government, and no law shall ever be made to restrain the 
right thereof. Every person may freely and fully speak, write and print 
on any subject, being responsible for the abuse of that liberty. 

SEC. 9. In prosecutions for the publication of papers investigating 
the official conduct of officers or men in a public capacity, or where the 
matter published is proper for public information, the truth thereof 
may be given in evidence; and in 'all indictments for libel the jury 
shall have the right to determine the law and the facts, under the direc- 
tion of the court, as in other cases. 
1 



Sec. io. The people shall be secure in their persons, houses, 
papers and possessions, from unreasonable search and seizure ; and no 
warrant shall issue to search any place, or seize any person or thing, 
without describing them as nearly as may be, nor without probable 
cause supported by oath or affirmation. 

Sec. ii. In all criminal prosecutions the accused has the right to 
"be heard by himself and counsel ; to demand the nature and cause of 
the accusation against him ; to meet the witnesses face to face, and to 
have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor. He can 
not be compelled to give evidence against himself, nor can he be 
deprived of his life, liberty or property, unless by the judgment of his 
peers or the law of the land ; and in prosecutions by indictment or 
information he shall have a speedy public trial by an impartial jury of 
the vicinage ; but the General Assembly may provide by a general law 
for a change of venue in such prosecutions for both the defendant and 
the Commonwealth, the change to be made to the most convenient 
county in which a fair trial can be obtained. 

Sec. 12. No person, for an indictable offense, shall be proceeded 
against criminally by information, except in cases arising in the land 
or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or 
public danger, or by leave of court for oppression or misdemeanor in office. 

Sec. 13. No person shall, for the same offense, be twice put in 
jeopardy of his life or limb, nor shall any man's property be taken or 
applied to public use without the consent of his representatives, and 
without just compensation being previously made to him. 

Sec. 14. All courts shall be open and every person for an injury 
done him in his lands, goods, person or reputation, shall have remedy 
by due course of law, and right and justice administered without sale, 
denial or delay. 

Sec 15. No power to suspend laws shall be exercised, unless by 
the General Assembly or its authority. 

Sec 16. All prisoners shall be bailable by sufficient securities, 
unless for capital offenses when the proof is evident or the presumption 
great ; and the privilege of the writ of habeas . corpus shall not be sus- 
pended unless when, in case of rebellion or invasion, the public safety 
may require it. 

Sec 17. Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines 
imposed, nor cruel punishment inflicted. 

Sec 18. The person of a debtor, where there is not strong pre- 
sumption of fraud, shall not be continued in prison after delivering up 
liis estate for the benefit of his creditors in such manner as shall be 
prescribed by law. 



Sec. 19. No ex post facto law, nor any law impairing the obliga- 
tion of contracts, shall be enacted. 

Sec. 20. No person shall be attainted of treason or felony by the 
General Assembly, and no attainder shall work corruption of blood, 
nor, except during the life of the offender, forfeiture of estate to the 
Commonwealth. 

Sec. 21. The estate of such persons as shall destroy their own 
lives shall descend or vest as in cases of natural death ; and if any 
person shall be killed by casualty, there shall be no forfeiture by reason 
thereof. 

SEC. 22. No standing army shall, in time of peace, be maintained 
without the consent of the General Assembly ; and the military shall, 
in all cases and at all times, be in strict subordination to the civil 
power ; nor shall any soldier, in time of peace, be quartered in any 
house without the consent of the owner, nor in time of war, except in 
a manner prescribed by law. 

Sec. 23. The General Assembly shall not grant any title of 
nobility or hereditary distinction, nor create any office the appointment 
of which shall be for a longer time than a term of years. 

Sec. 24. Emigration from the State shall not be prohibited. 

Sec. 25. Slavery and involuntary servitude in this State are for- 
bidden, except as a punishment for crime, whereof the party shall have 
been duly convicted. 

Sec. 26. To guard against transgression of the high powers which 
we have delegated, We Declare that everything in this Bill of Rights 
is excepted out of the general powers of government, and shall forever 
remain inviolate ; and all laws contrary thereto, or contrary to this 
Constitution, shall be void. 

DISTRIBUTION OF THE POWERS OF GOVERNMENT. 

i 

SEC. 27. The powers of the government of the Commonwealth 
of Kentucky shall be divided into three distinct departments, and each 
of them be confided to a separate body of magistracy, to-wit : Those 
which are legislative, to one ; those which are executive, to another ; 
and those which are judicial, to another. 

Sec. 28. No person, or collection of persons, being of one of those 
departments, shall exercise any power properly belonging to either of 
the others, except in the instances hereinafter expressly directed or 
permitted. 



LEGISLATIVE DEPARTMENT. 



Sec. 29. The legislative power shall be vested in a House of 
Representatives and a Senate, which, together, shall be styled the 
" General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Kentucky." 

Sec. 30. The members of the House of Representatives shall 
continue in service for the term of two years from the day of the gen- 
eral election, and no longer. 

Sec. 31. Senators and Representatives shall be chosen, one from 
each Senatorial and Representative district, on the first Tuesday after the 
first Monday in November, Senators on the same day every four years 
thereafter, and Representatives on the same day every second year 
thereafter, in the manner prescribed in this Constitution. 

Sec. 32. No person shall be a Representative who, at the time of 
his election, is not a citizen of Kentucky, has not attained the age of 
twenty-four years, and who has not resided in this State two years next 
preceding his election, and the last year thereof in the county, town or 
city for which he may be chosen. No person shall be a Senator who, 
at the time of his election, is not a citizen of Kentucky, has not attained 
the age of thirty years, and has not resided in this State six years next 
preceding his election, and the last year thereof in the district for which 
he may be chosen. 

Sec. 33. The first General Assembly after the adoption of this Con- 
stitution shall divide the State into thirty-eight Senatorial districts, and 
one hundred Representative districts, as nearly equal in population as 
may be without dividing any county, except where a county may 
include more than one district, which districts shall constitute the 
Senatorial and Representative districts for ten years. Not more than 
two counties shall be joined together to form a Representative district : 
Provided, In doing so the principle requiring every district to be as 
nearly equal in population as may be shall not be violated. At the ex- 
piration of that time, the General Assembly shall then, and every ten 
years thereafter, redistrict the State according to this rule, and for the 
purposes expressed in this section. If, in making said districts inequal- 
ity of population should be unavoidable, any advantage resulting there- 
from shall be given to districts having the largest territory. No part of 
a county shall be added to another county to make a district. 

Sec. 34. The House of Representatives shall choose its Speaker 
and other officers. 



SEC. 35. Senators shall be chosen for the term of four years, and 
the Senate shall have power to choose its officers biennially. 

Sec. 36. The election of Senators next after the first apportionment 
under this Constitution shall be general throughout the State. At the 
session of the General Assembly next .after the first apportionment 
under this Constitution, the Senators shall be divided by lot, as equally 
as may be, into two classes. _ The seats of the first class shall be vacated 
at the end of two years from the day of the election, and those of the 
second class at the end of four years, so that one-half shall be chosen 
every two years. 

Sec. 37. The number of Representatives shall be one hundred, and 
the number of Senators thirty-eight, and no more. 

Sec 38. The first General Assembly, the members of which shall 
be elected under this Constitution, shall meet on the first Tuesday 
after the first Monday in January, eighteen hundred and ninety-three, 
and thereafter on the same day every second year, and its sessions shall 
be held at the seat of government, except in case of war, insurrection 
or pestilence, when it may, by proclamation of the Governor, assemble, 
for the time being, elsewhere. 

Sec. 39. Not less than a majority of the members of each House of 
the General Assembly shall constitute a quorum to do business, but a 
smaller number may adjourn from day to day, and shall be authorized 
by law to compel the attendance of absent members in such manner and 
under such penalties as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 40. Bach House of the General Assembly shall judge of the 
qualifications, elections and returns of its members, but a contested 
election shall be determined in such manner as shall be directed by 
law. 

SEC. 41. Bach House of the General Assembly may determine the 
rules of its proceedings, punish a member for disorderly behavior, 
and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member, but not a 
second time for the same cause, and may punish for contempt any 
person who refuses to attend as a witness, or to bring any paper 
proper to be used as evidence before the General Assembly, or either 
House thereof, or a committee of either, or to testify concerning any 
matter which may be a proper subject of inquiry by the General 
Assembly, or offers or gives & foribe to a member of the General 
Assembly, or attempts by other corrupt means or device to control 
or influence a member to cast his vote or withhold the same. The 
punishment and mode of proceeding for contempt in such cases shall 
be prescribed by law, but the term of imprisonment in any such case 
shall not extend beyond the session of the General Assembly. 



SEC 42. Kach House of the General Assembly shall keep and 
publish daily a journal of its proceedings ; and the yeas and nays of 
the members on any question shall, at the desire of any two of the 
members elected, be entered on the journal. 

Sec. 43. Neither House, during the session of the General Assem- 
bly, shall, without the consent of the other, adjourn for more than 
three days, nor to any other place than that in which it may be sit- 
ting. 

Sec. 44. The members of the General Assembly shall severally 
receive from the State Treasury compensation for their services, 
which shall be five dollars a day during their attendance on, and 
fifteen cents per mile for the necessary travel in going to and return- 
ing from, the sessions of their respective Houses : Provided, The same 
may be changed by law ; but no change shall take effect during the 
session at which such change is made ; nor shall a session of the Gen- 
eral Assembly continue beyond sixty legislative days, exclusive of 
Sundays and legal holidays ; but this limitation as to length of ses- 
sion shall not apply to the first session held under this Constitution. 
A legislative day shall be construed to mean a calendar day. 

Sec. 45. The members of the General Assembly shall, in all 
cases except treason, felony, breach or surety of the peace, be priv- 
ileged from arrest during their attendance on the sessions of their 
respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same ; and 
for any speech or debate in either House they shall not be questioned 
in any other place. 

Sec. 46. No Senator or Representative shall, during the term for 
which he was elected, nor for one year thereafter, be appointed or 
elected to any civil office of profit in this Commonwealth, which shall 
have been created, or the emoluments of which shall have been 
increased during the said term, except to such offices as may be filled 
by the election of the people. 

Sec. 47. No person, who at any time may have been a collector of 
taxes or public moneys for the Commonwealth, or for any county, 
city, town or district, or the assistant or deputy of such collector, shall 
be eligible to the General Assembly, unless he shall have obtained a 
quietus six months before the election for the amount of such collec- 
tion, and for all public moneys for which he may have been responsi- 
ble. 

Sec, 48. No bill shall be considered for final passage, unless the 
same has been reported by a committee and printed for the use of the 
members. Every bill shall be read at length on three different days 
in each House, but the second and third readings may be dispensed 



10 

with by a majority of all the members elected to the House in which 
the bill is pending. But whenever a committee refuses or fails to 
report a bill submitted to it in a reasonable time, the same may be 
called up by any member, and, by consent, be considered in the same 
manner it would have been considered if it had been reported. No 
bill shall become a law unless, on its final passage, it receives the votes 
of at least two-fifths of the members elected to each House, and a 
majority of the members voting, the vote to be taken by yeas and 
nays and entered in the journal: Provided, Any act or resolution 
for the appropriation of money or the creation of debt shall, on its 
final passage, receive the votes of a majority of all the members 
elected to each House. 

Sec. 49. All bills for raising revenue shall originate in the House 
of Representatives, but the Senate may propose amendments as to 
other bills: Provided, No new matter shall be . introduced, under color 
of amendment, which does not relate to raising revenue. 

Sec. 50. The General Assembly shall have no power to enact 
laws to diminish the resources of the Sinking Fund as now estab- 
lished by law until the debt of the Commonwealth be paid, but may 
enact laws to increase them ; and the whole resources of said fund, 
from year to year, shall be sacredly set apart and applied to the pay- . 
ment of the interest and principal of the State debt, and to no other 
use or purpose, until the whole debt of the State is fully satisfied. 

Sec. 51. The General Assembly may contract debts to meet 
casual deficits or failures in the revenue ; but such debts, direct or 
contingent, singly or in the aggregate, shall not at any time exceed 
five hundred thousand dollars, and the moneys arising from loans 
creating such debts shall be applied only to the purpose or purposes 
for which they were obtained, or to repay such debts : Provided, The 
General Assembly may contract debts to repel invasion, suppress 
insurrection, or, if hostilities are threatened, provide for the public 
defense. 

Sec. 52. No act of the General Assembly shall authorize any 
debt to be contracted on behalf of the Commonwealth, except for the 
purposes mentioned in Section 51, unless provision be made therein 
to levy and collect an annual tax sufficient to pay the interest stipu- 
lated, and to discharge the debt within thirty years ; nor shall such 
act take effect until it shall have been submitted to the people at a 
general election, and shall have received a majority of all the votes 
cast for and against it : Provided, The General Assembly may contract 
debts by borrowing money to pay any part of the debt of the State, 
without submission to the people, and without making provision in 



11 

the act authorizing the same for a tax to discharge the debt so con- 
tracted, or the interest thereon. 

SEC. 53. No law enacted by the General Assembly shall relate to 
more than one subject, and that shall be expressed in the title, and no 
law shall be revised, amended, or the provisions thereof extended or 
conferred by reference to its title only, but so much thereof as is 
revised, amended, extended or conferred, shall be re-enacted and pub- 
lished at length. 

Sec. 54. The General Assembly shall have no power to release, 
extinguish, or authorize the releasing or extinguishing, in whole or in 
part, the contract, indebtedness, liability or obligation of any corpora- 
tion or individual to this Commonwealth, or to any county or munici- 
pality thereof. 

Sec. 55. The General Assembly shall provide by law for monthly 
investigations into the accounts of the Treasurer and Auditor of 
Public Accounts, and the results of these investigations shall be 
reported to the Governor, and these reports shall be semi-annually 
published in two newspapers of general circulation in the State. The 
reports received by the Governor shall, at the beginning of each 
session, be transmitted by him to the General Assembly for scrutiny 
and appropriate action. 

Sec. 56. The General Assembly shall have no power to limit the 
amount to be recovered for injuries resulting in death, or for injuries 
to person or property. 

Sec. 57. No act, except general appropriation bills, shall become 
a law until ninety days after the adjournment of the session at which 
it was passed, except in cases of emergency, when, by the concurrence 
of a majority of the members elected to each House of the General 
Assembly, by a yea and nay vote entered upon their journals, an act 
may become a law when approved by the Governor ; but the reasons 
for the emergency that justifies this action must be set out at length 
in the journal of each House. 

Sec 58. No bill shall become a law until the same shall have been 
signed by the presiding officer of each of the two Houses in open 
session ; and before such officer shall have affixed his signature to any 
bill, he shall suspend all other business, declare that such bill will now 
be read, and that he will sign the same to the end that it may become 
a law. The bill shall then be read at length and compared ; and, if 
correctly enrolled, he shall, in presence of the House in open session 
and before any other business is entertained, affix his signature, which 
fact shall be noted in the journal, and the bill immediately sent to the 
other House. When it reaches the other House, the presiding officer 



12 

thereof shall immediately suspend all other business, announce the 
reception of the bill, and the same proceeding shall thereupon be 
observed in every respect as in the House in which it was first signed. 
And thereupon the clerk of the latter House shall immediately pre- 
sent the same to the Governor for his signature and approval. 

SEC. 59. The credit of this Commonwealth shall never be given or 
loaned in aid of any person, association, municipality or corporation. 

Sec. 60. A member who has a personal or private interest in any 
measure or bill proposed or pending before the General Assembly, 
shall disclose the fact to the House of which he is a member, and 
shall not vote thereon upon pain of expulsion. 

Sec. 61. The General Assembly shall neither audit nor allow any 
private claim or account against the Commonwealth ; but may appro- 
priate money to pay such claim as shall have been audited and allowed 
according to law, except for expenses incurred during the session at 
which the same was allowed. 

LOCAL AND SPECIAL LEGISLATION. 

Sec. 62. The General Assembly shall not pass local or special acts 
concerning any of the following subjects, or for any of the following 
purposes, namely : 

First: To regulate the jurisdiction, or the practice, or the circuits 
of courts of justice, or the rights, powers, duties or compensation 
of the officers thereof; but the practice in circuit courts in contin- 
uous session may, by a general law, be made different from the 
practice of circuit courts held in terms. 

Second: To regulate the summoning, impaneling or compensation 
of grand or petit jurors. 

Third: To provide for changes of venue in civil or criminal 
causes. 

Fourth : To regulate the punishment of crimes and misdemeanors, 
or to remit fines, penalties or forfeitures. 

Fifth : To regulate the limitation of civil or criminal causes. 

Sixth : To affect the estate of cestuis que trust, decedents, infants 
or other persons under disabilities, or to authorize any such persons 
to sell, lease, encumber or dispose of their property. 

Seventh : To declare any person of age, or to relieve an infant or 
feme covert of disability, or to enable him to do acts allowed only to 
adults not under disabilities. 

Eighth : To change the law of descent, distribution or succession. 

Ninth : To authorize the adoption or legitimation of children. 

Tenth : To grant divorces. 



13 

Eleventh : To change the names of persons. 

Twelfth : To give effect to invalid deeds, wills or other instruments. 

Thirteenth : To legalize, except as against the Commonwealth, the 
unauthorized or invalid act of any officer or public agent of the Com- 
monwealth, or of any citjr, county or municipality thereof. 

Fourteenth : To refund money legally paid into the State Treasury. 

Fifteenth : To authorize or to regulate the levy, the assessment or 
the collection of taxes, or to give any indulgence or discharge to any 
assessor or collector of taxes, or to his sureties. 

Sixteenth : To exempt property from taxation. 

Seventeenth: To authorize the opening, altering, maintaining or 
vacating roads, highways, streets, alleys, town plats, cemeteries, grave- 
yards, or public grounds not owned by the Commonwealth. 

Eighteenth : To grant a charter to any corporation, or to amend 
the charter of any existing corporation ; to license companies or per- 
sons to own or operate ferries, bridges, roads or turnpikes ; to declare 
streams navigable, or to authorize the construction of booms or dams 
therein, or to remove obstructions therefrom ; to affect toll-gates, or 
to regulate tolls ; to regulate fencing or the running at large of stock. 

Nineteenth : To authorize officers to appoint deputies, or creating, 
increasing or decreasing fees, percentages or allowances to public 
officers, or extending the time for the collection thereof. 

Twentieth : To give any person or corporation the right to lay a 
railroad track or tramway, or to amend existing charters for such 
purposes. 

Twenty-first : To provide for conducting elections, or for designat- 
ing the places of voting, or changing the boundaries of wards, pre- 
cincts or districts, except when new counties may be created. 

Twenty-second : To regulate the rate of interest. 

Twenty -third : To authorize the creation, extension, enforcement, 
impairment or release of liens. 

Twenty-fourth : To provide for the protection' of game and fish. 

Twenty-fifth : To regulate labor, trade, mining or manufacturing. 

Twenty-sixth : To provide for the management of common schools. • 

Twenty-seventh : To locate or change a county seat. 

Twenty-eighth : To provide a means of taking the sense of the 
people of any city, town, district, precinct, or county, whether they wish 
to authorize, regulate or prohibit therein the sale of vinous, spirituous, 
or malt liquors, or alter the liquor laws, or to enact any act with refer- 
ence thereto. 

Twenty-ninth : Restoring to citizenship persons convicted of in- 
famous crimes. 



14 

Thirtieth : In all other cases where a general law ean be made ap- 
plicable, no special law shall be enacted. 

Sec. 63. The General Assembly shall not indirectly enact any 
special or local act by the repeal in part of a general act, or by 
exempting from the operation of a general act any city, town, district 
or county; but laws repealing local or special acts may be enacted. 
No law shall be enacted granting powers or privileges in any case 
where the granting of such powers or privileges shall have been pro- 
vided for by a general law, nor where the courts have jurisdiction to 
grant the same or to give the relief asked for. All laws of a general 
nature shall have a uniform operation throughout the State, and no 
law, except such as relates to the sale of vinous, spirituous, or malt 
liquors, shall be enacted to take effect upon the approval of any other 
authority than the General Assembly, except as otherwise expressly 
provided in this Constitution. 

Sec. 64.' The style of the laws of this Commonwealth shall be as 
follows : " Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the Common- 
wealth of Kentucky/* 

COUNTIES AND COUNTY SEATS. 

Sec. 65. No new county shall be created by the General Assem- 
bly which will reduce the county or counties, or either of them, from 
which it shall be taken, to less area than four hundred square miles ; 
nor shall any county be formed of less area ; nor shall any boundary 
line thereof pass within less than ten miles of any county seat of the 
county or counties proposed to be divided. Nothing contained herein 
shall prevent the General Assembly from abolishing any county. 

Sec. 66. No county shall be divided, or have any part stricken 
therefrom, except in the formation of new counties, without submit- 
ting the question to a vote of the people of the county, nor unless the 
majority of all the legal voters of the county voting on the question 
shall vote for the same. The county seat of no county as now 
located, or as it may hereafter be located, shall be moved, except upon 
a vote of two-thirds of those voting ; nor shall any new county be 
established which will reduce any county to less than twelve thou- 
sand inhabitants, nor shall any county be created containing a less 
population. 

Sec. 67. There shall be no territory stricken from any county 
unless a majority of the voters living in such territory shall petition 
for such division. But the portion so stricken off and added to 
another county, or formed in whole or in part into a new county, 



15 

shall be bound for its proportion of the indebtedness of the county 
from which it has been taken. 

IMPEACHMENTS. 

Sec. 68. The House of Representatives shall have the sole power 
of impeachment. 

Sec. 69. All impeachments shall be tried by the Senate. When 
sitting for that purpose, the Senators shall be upon oath or affirmation. 
No person shall be convicted without the concurrence of two-thirds 
of the Senators present. 

Sec. 70. The Governor and all civil officers shall be liable to im- 
peachment for any misdemeanors in office ; but judgment in such cases 
shall not extend further than removal from office, and disqualification 
to hold any office of honor, trust or profit under this Commonwealth ; 
but the party convicted shall, nevertheless, be subject and liable to 
indictment, trial and punishment by law. 



THE EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT. 



OFFICERS FOR THE STATE AT LARGE. 

Sec. 71. The Supreme Executive power of the Commonwealth shall 
be vested in a Chief Magistrate, who shall be styled the ' ' Governor of 
the Commonwealth of Kentucky." 

Sec. 72. He shall be elected for the term of four years by the 
qualified voters of the State at the time when, and places where, they 
shall respectively vote for Representatives. The person having the 
highest number of votes shall be Governor ; but if two or more shall 
be equal and highest in votes, the election shall be determined by lot 
in such manner as the General Assembly may direct. 

Sec. 73. He shall be ineligible for the succeeding four years after 
the expiration of the term for which he shall have been elected. 

Sec. 74. He shall be at least thirty years of age, and have been a 
citizen and a resident of Kentucky for at least six years next preced- 
ing his election. 

Sec. 75. He shall commence the execution of the duties of his 
office on the fifth Tuesday succeeding his election, and shall continue 
in the execution thereof until his successor shall have qualified. 



16 

SEC. 76. He shall appoint, with the advice and consent of the 
Senate, all State officers who are not required by this Constitution, or 
the laws made thereunder, to be elected by the people. 

S^c. 77. He shall at stated times receive for his services a compen- 
sation to be fixed by law. 

Sec. 78. He shall be Commander-in-Chief of the Army and Navy 
of this Commonwealth, and of the militia thereof, except whon they 
shall be called into the service of the United States ; but he shall not 
command personally in the field, unless advised so to do by a resolu- 
tion of the General Assembly. 

Sec. 79. He shall have the power to fill vacancies by granting 
commissions, which shall expire when such vacancies shall have been 
filled according to the provisions of this Constitution. 

Sec. 80. He shall have power to remit fines and forfeitures, com- 
mute sentences, grant reprieves and pardons, except in case of im- 
peachment, and he shall file with each application therefor a statement 
of the reasons for his decision thereon, which application and state- 
ment shall always be open to public inspection. In cases of treason, 
he shall have power to grant reprieves until the end of the next ses- 
sion of the General Assembly, in which the power of pardoning shall 
be vested ; but he shall have no power to remit the fees of the Clerk, 
Sheriff, or Commonwealth's Attorney in penal or criminal cases. 

Sec. 81. He may require information in writing from the officers 
of the Executive Department upon any subject relating to the duties 
of their respective offices. 

Sec. 82. He shall, from time to time, give to the General Assem- 
bly information of the state of the Commonwealth, and recommend 
to their consideration such measures as he may deem expedient. 

SEC. 83. He may, on extraordinary occasions, convene the Gen- 
eral Assembly at the seat of Government, or at a different place, if 
that should have become dangerous from an enemy or from conta- 
gious diseases. In case of disagreement between the two Houses with 
respect to the time of adjournment, he may adjourn them to such time 
as he shall think proper, not exceeding four months. When he shall 
convene the General Assembly it shall be by proclamation, stating 
the subjects to be considered, and no others shall be considered. 

Sec. 84. He shall take care that the laws be faithfully exe- 
cuted. 

Sec. 85. A lieutenant Governor shall be chosen at every regular 
election for Governor, in the same manner, to continue in office for 
the same time, and possess the same qualifications as the Governor. 
He shall be ineligible to the office of Lieutenant Governor for the sue- 



17 

ceeding four years after the expiration of the term for which he shall 
have been elected. 

Skc. 86. He shall, by virtue of his office, be President of the Sen- 
ate, have a right, when in Committee of the Whole, to debate and vote 
on all subjects, and when the Senate is equally divided, to give the 
casting vote. 

Skc. 87. Should the Governor be impeached and removed from 
office, die, refuse to qualify, resign, be absent from the State, or be, 
from any cause, unable to discharge the duties of his office, the lieu- 
tenant Governor shall exercise all the power and authority appertain- 
ing to the office of Governor until another be duly elected and qualified, 
or the Governor shall return or be able to discharge the duties of his 
office. On the trial of the Governor, the Lieutenant Governor shall 
not act as President of the Senate or take part in the proceedings, but 
the Chief Justice of the Court of Appeals shall preside during the 
trial. 

SKC 88. A President pro te?npore of the Senate shall be elected by 
each Senate as soon after its organization as possible, the Lieutenant 
Governor vacating his seat as President of the Senate until such elec- 
tion shall be made ; and as often as there is a vacancy in the office of 
President pro tempore, another President pro tempore of the Senate 
shall be elected by the Senate, if in session. And if, during the vacancy 
of the office of Governor, the Lieutenant Governor shall be impeached 
and removed from office, refuse to qualify, resign, die or be absent 
from the State, the President pro tempore of the Senate shall in like 
manner administer the government : Provided, Whenever a vacancy 
shall occur in the office of Governor before the first two years of the 
term shall have expired, a new election for Governor shall take place 
to fill such vacancy. 

Skc. 89. The Lieutenant Governor, or President pro teinpore of 
the Senate, while he acts as President of the Senate, shall receive for 
his services the same compensation which shall, for the same period, 
be allowed to the Speaker of the House of Representatives, and no 
more ; and during the time he administers the government as Gov- 
ernor, he shall receive the same compensation which the Governor 
would have received had he been employed in the duties of his office. 

Skc. 90. If the Lieutenant Governor shall be called upon to admin- 
ister the government, and shall, while in such administration, resign, 
die or be absent from the State during the recess of the General 
Assembly, if there be no President pro tempore of the Senate, it shall 
be the duty of the Secretary of State, for the time being, to convene 
the Senate for the purpose of choosing a President ; and until a Presi- 



18 

dent is chosen, the Secretary of State shall administer the govern- 
ment. If there be no Secretary of State to perform the duties 
devolved upon him by this section, or in case that officer be absent 
from the State, then the Attorney General, for the time being, shall 
convene the Senate for the purpose of choosing a President, and shall 
administer the government until a President is chosen. 

Sec. 91. Every bill which shall have passed the two Houses shall 
be presented to the Governor. If he approve, he shall sign it ; but if 
not, he shall return it, with his objections, to the House in which it 
originated, which shall enter the objections in full upon its journal, 
and proceed to reconsider it. If, after such reconsideration, a majority 
of all the members elected to that House shall agree to pass the bill, 
it shall be sent, with the objections, to the other House, by which it 
shall likewise be considered, and if approved by a majority of all the 
members elected to that House, it shall be a law ; but in such case the 
votes of both Houses shall be determined by yeas and nays, and the 
names of the members voting for and against the bill shall be entered 
upon the journal of each House respectively. If any bill shall not be 
returned by the Governor within ten days (Sundays excepted) after it 
shall have been presented to him, it shall be a law in like manner as 
if he had signed it, unless the General Assembly, by their adjourn- 
ment, prevent its return, in which case it shall be a law, unless dis- 
approved by him within ten days after the adjournment, in which case 
his veto message shall be spread upon the register kept by the Secre- 
tary of State. The Governor shall have power to disapprove any 
part or parts of appropriation bills embracing distinct items, and the 
part or parts disapproved shall not become a law unless reconsidered 
and passed, as in case of a bill. 

SBC. 92. Every order, resolution or vote, in which the concurrence 
of both Houses may be necessary, except on a question of adjourn- 
ment, shall be presented to the Governor, and, before it shall take 
effect, be approved by him ; or, being disapproved, shall be repassed 
by c majority of the members elected to both Houses, according to 
the rules and limitations prescribed in case of a bill. 

Sec. 93. Contested elections for Governor and Lieutenant Gov- 
ernor shall be determined by both Houses of the General Assembly, 
according to such regulations as may be established by law. 

Sec. 94. A Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Register of 
the Land Office, Commissioner of Agriculture, Labor and Statistics, 
and an Attorney General shall be elected by the qualified voters of 
the State at the same time the Governor is elected, for the term of 
four years, each of whom shall have been a resident citizen of this 



19 

State for at least two years next before his election. There shall be 
elected by the qualified voters of the State, at the same time the Gov- 
ernor is elected, for the term of four years, a Secretary of State, whose 
duties shall be to keep a fair register of and attest all of the official 
acts of the Governor, and shall, when required, lay the same and all 
papers, minutes and vouchers relative thereto, before either House of 
the General Assembly. He shall also perform such other duties as 
may be required of him by law. 

Sec. 95. The Attorney General shall have been a practicing lawyer 
eight years before his election. 

Sec. 96. The Treasurer, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Ag- 
riculture, Labor and Statistics, Attorney General, and Register of the 
Land Office shall be ineligible to re-election for the succeeding four 
years after the expiration of the term for which they shall have been 
elected ; and the Auditor of Public Accounts shall be ineligible to re- 
election for the succeeding four years after he shall have held the office 
for two terms, if he shall have been elected for two succeeding terms. 
The duties and responsibilities of these officers shall be prescribed by 
law, and all fees collected by any of said officers shall be covered into 
the Treasury. Inferior State officers, not specifically provided for in this 
Constitution, may be appointed or elected, in such manner as may be 
prescribed by law, for a term not exceeding four years. 

Sec. 97. The General Assembly may provide for the abolishment 
of the office of Register of the Land Office, to take effect at the 
end of any term, and shall provide by law for the custody and preser- 
vation of the papers and records of said office, if the same be abolished. 

Sec. 98. The first election under this Constitution for Governor, 
Lieutenant Governor, Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Register 
of the Land Office, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Superintend- 
ent of Public Instruction, and Commissioner of Agriculture, Labor 
and Statistics, shall be held on the first Tuesday after the first Monday 
in November, eighteen hundred and ninety-five. 

Sec. 99. The Secretary of State shall be at least twenty-five years 
of age, and shall have been a citizen of Kentucky at least five years 
next preceding his election. 

Sec. 100. All the officers mentioned in Section 98 shall be paid 
for their services by salary, and not otherwise. 

OFFICERS FOR DISTRICTS AND COUNTIES. 

Sec. ioi. A Commonwealth's Attorney for each judicial dis- 
trict, and a Circuit Court Clerk for each county, shall be elected, whose 
terms of office shall be six years ; also a County Court Clerk, Attorney, 



20 
Surveyor, Coroner and Jailer for each county, whose terms of office 
shall be the same as that of Judge of the County Court. The com- 
pensation of the Commonwealth's Attorney shall be by salary and 
such percentage of fines and forfeitures as may be fixed by law, and 
such salary shall be uniform in so far as the same shall be paid out of 
the State Treasury, and not to exceed the sum of five hundred dollars 
per annum ; but any county may make additional compensation, to be 
paid by said county. Should any percentage of fines and forfeitures be 
allowed by law, it shall not be paid except upon such proportion of 
the fines and forfeitures as have been collected and paid into the State 
Treasury, and not until so collected and paid. The salaries and fees 
of the other officers named in this section shall be fixed by law. 

Sec. i 02. No person shall be eligible to the offices mentioned in 
Section 101 who is not at the time of his election twenty-four years of 
age (except Clerks of County and Circuit Courts, who shall be twenty- 
one years of age), a citizen of Kentucky, and who has not resided in 
the State two years, and one year in the county, next preceding his elec- 
tion. No person shall be eligible to the office of Commonwealth's 
Attorney unless he shall have been a licensed practicing lawyer for 
four years. No person shall be eligible to the office of County Attorney 
unless he shall have been a licensed practicing lawyer for two years. 
No person shall be eligible to the office of Clerk unless he shall have 
procured from a Judge of the Court of Appeals, or a Judge of a Circuit 
Court, a certificate that he has been examined by the clerk of his court 
under his supervision, and that he is qualified for the office for which 
he is a candidate. 

Sec. 103. The Commonwealth's Attorney and the Circuit Court 
Clerk shall be elected by the qualified voters of the district and county, 
respectively, at the same time the Judge of the Circuit Court is elected. 
The County Clerk, Surveyor, Coroner, Attorney and Jailer shall be 
elected at the same time and in the same manner the Judge of the 
County Court is elected. 

Sec. 104. A Sheriff shall be elected in each county by the qualified 
voters thereof, whose term of office shall be four years, and until his 
successor be qualified ; but no Sheriff shall be eligible to re-election, or 
act as deputy, for the succeeding term : Provided, The first election of 
Sheriffs under this Constitution shall be held at the regular election in 
eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and the Sheriffs then elected shall 
hold their offices for only two years. 

Sec. 105. A Constable shall be elected in each justice's district by 
the qualified voters thereof at the same time and for the same term the 
Sheriff is elected, and shall possess the same qualifications. The juris- 



21 

diction of Constables shall be coextensive with the counties in which 
they reside. 

Sec. 106. When a new county shall be created, officers for the 
same, to serve until the next regular election, shall be elected or 
appointed in such way and at such times, as the General Assembly 
may prescribe. 

Sec. 107. The Judges of County Courts, Clerks, Sheriffs, Survey- 
ors, Coroners, Jailers, and such other officers as the General Assembly 
may, from time to time, require, shall, before they enter upon the duties 
of their respective offices, and as often thereafter as may be deemed 
proper, give such bond and security as may be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 108. There shall be elected in each county, at the same time 
and for the same term the Judge of the County Court is elected, an 
Assessor, whose qualifications shall be the same as those of the Sheriff. 
The General Assembly ma}' prescribe by law that the assessment of 
property may be made by other officers, in which event the office of 
Assesssor shall be abolished ; but the General Assembly shall have 
power to re-establish the office of Assessor, and to impose upon that 
officer the duties of making assessments. No person shall be eligible to 
the office of Assessor two consecutive terms. 

Sec. 109. The General Assembly may, at any time, consolidate the 
offices of Jailer and Sheriff in any county or counties, as it shall deem 
most expedient ; but in the event such consolidation be made, the 
office of Sheriff shall be retained, and the Sheriff shall be required to 
perform the duties of Jailer. 

Sec. 1 10. The fees of count}' officers shall be regulated by law. 
In counties or cities having a population of seventy-five thousand or 
more, the Clerks of the respective courts thereof (except the Clerk of 
the City Court), the Marshals, the Sheriffs, the Assessors and the 
Jailers shall be paid out of the State Treasury, by salary to be fixed 
by law, not to exceed seventy-five per centum of the fees collected by 
said officers, respectively, and paid into the Treasury. 

Sec. hi. The General Assembly may provide for the election or 
appointment, for a term not exceeding four years, of such other county 
or district ministerial and executive officers as may from time to time 
be necessary. 

Sec. 112. The General Assembly shall provide by general laws 
for the government of counties and shall prescribe the compensation, 
rights, powers and duties of county officers ; and, for that purpose, 
shall have power to classify the counties of the State, either by popu- 
lation or by the taxable value of the property therein, so that the laws 
may be uniform with reference to counties of the same class : Provided, 
Not more than six classes shall be made. 



22 



S^C. 113. The General Assembly may, at any time after the 
expiration of six years from the adoption of this Constitution, abolish 
the office of Commonwealth's Attorney, to take effect upon the 
expiration of the terms of the incumbents, in which event the duties of 
said office shall be discharged by the County Attorneys. 



THE JUDICIAL DEPARTMENT. 



Sec. 114. The judicial power of the Commonwealth, both as to 
matters of law and equity, shall be vested in the Senate when sitting 
as a Court of Impeachment, and one Supreme Court (to be styled 
the Court of Appeals) and the courts established by this Constitution. 

COURT OF APPEALS. 

Sec. 115. The Court of Appeals shall have appellate jurisdic- 
tion only, which shall be coextensive with the State, under such 
restrictions and regulations not repugnant to this Constitution, as may 
from time to time be prescribed by law. Said court shall have power 
to issue such writs as may be necessary to give it a general control of 
inferior jurisdictions. 

Sec. 116. The Court of Appeals shall be held at the seat of govern- 
ment ; but if that shall become dangerous, in case of war, insurrection 
or pestilence, it may adjourn to meet and transact its business at such 
other place in the State as it may deem expedient for the time being. 

SEC. 117. The Judges of the. Court of Appeals shall severally hold 
their offices for the term of eight years, commencing on the first Mon- 
day in January next succeeding their respective elections, and until 
their* several successors are qualified, subject to the conditions herein- 
after prescribed. For any reasonable cause the Governor shall remove 
them, or any one or more of them, on the address of two-thirds of each 
House of the General Assembly : Provided, The cause or causes for 
which said removal shall be required shall be stated at length in such 
address and in the journal of each House. They shall at stated times 
receive for their services an adequate compensation, to be fixed by law. 

SEC. 118. The Court of Appeals shall, after eighteen hundred and 
ninety-four, consist of not less than five nor more than seven Judges. 
They shall, severally, by virtue of their office, be conservators of the 



23 

peace throughout the State, and shall be commissioned by the 
Governor. 

Sec. 119. No person shall be eligible to election as a Judge of the 
Court of Appeals who is not a citizen of Kentucky, and has not 
resided in this State for five years and in the district in which he is 
elected two years next preceding his election, and is less than thirty- 
five years of age, and has not been a practicing ^lawyer eight years, 
or whose services upon the bench of a Circuit Court, or court of similar 
jurisdiction, when added to the time he may have practiced law, shall 
not be equal to eight years. 

Sec. 120. The present Judges of the Court of Appeals shall hold 
their offices until their respective terms expire, and until their several 
successors shall be qualified ; and at the regular election next pre- 
ceding the expiration of the term of each of the present Judges, his 
successor shall be elected : Provided \ The General Assembly shall, 
before the regular election in eighteen hundred and ninety-four, provide 
for the election of such Judges of the Court of Appeals, not less than 
five nor exceeding seven, as may be necessary ; and if less than seven 
Judges be provided for, the General Assembly may, at any time, increase 
the number to seven. 

Sec. 121. The Judges of the Court of Appeals shall be elected by 
districts, and the General Assembly shall, at its first session after the 
adoption of this Constitution and may, every ten years thereafter, if it 
deems proper, or w T hen the number of Judges requires it, divide the 
State by counties into districts as nearly equal in ■ population and in as 
compact form as may be ; and in each of said districts the voters thereof 
shall elect one Judge. When the State shall be redistricted, the Gen- 
eral Assembly shall designate the order in which the elections shall be 
held therein. 

Sec. 122. A majority of the Judges of the Court of Appeals shall 
constitute a quorum for the transaction of business, but in the event as 
many as two decline, on account of interest or for other reason, to pre- 
side in the trial of any cause, the Governor, on that fact being certified 
to him by the Chief Justice, shall appoint to try the particular cause a 
sufficient number of Judges to constitute a full court. The Judges so 
appointed shall possess the qualifications prescribed for Judges of the 
Court of Appeals, and receive the same compensation proportioned to 
the length of service. 

Sec. 123. The Judge longest in commission as Judge of the Court 
of Appeals shall be Chief Justice, and if the term of service of two 
or more Judges be the same, they shall determine by lot which of their 
number shall be Chief Justice. The Court shall prescribe by rule that 
petitions for rehearing shall be considered by a Judge who did not 



24 

deliver the opinion in the case ; and the Court, if composed of seven 
Judges, shall divide itself into sections for the transaction of business, 
if, in the judgment of the Court, such arrangement is necessary. 

Sec. 124. The Superior Court shall continue until the terms of the 
present Judges of said Court expire, and upon the expiration of their 
terms, all causes pending before the Superior Court shall be trans- 
ferred to the Court of Appeals and be determined by it. 

Sec 125. The present Clerk of the Court of Appeals shall serve 
as such Clerk until the expiration of the term for which he was elected. 
At the regular annual election for the year eighteen hundred and 
ninety-seven, there shall be elected by the qualified voters of the 
State a Clerk of the Court of Appeals, who shall hold his office for the 
term of four years from and after his election, and until his successor 
shall be qualified. The clerk shall be eligible for two consecutive 
terms, but shall be ineligible for the succeeding term. 

Sec. 126. No person shall be eligible to the office of Clerk of the 
Court of Appeals unless he is a citizen of Kentucky, a resident thereof 
for two years next preceding his election, of the age of twenty-one 
years, and have a certificate from a Judge of the Court of Appeals that 
he has been examined by him, or by the Clerk of his Court under his 
supervision, and that he is qualified for the office. 

Sec. 127. Should a vacancy occur in the office of the Clerk of the 
Court of Appeals, or should the Clerk be under charges, the Court of 
Appeals shall have power to appoint a Clerk until the vacancy be filled 
as provided in this Constitution, or until the Clerk be acquitted. 

SEC. 128. The style of process shall be, "The Commonwealth of 
Kentucky." All prosecutions shall be carried on in the name and by 
the authority of the ' ' Commonwealth of Kentucky, ' ' and conclude 
against the peace and dignity of the same. 

Sec. 129. The Clerks of the Court of Appeals, Circuit and County 
Courts, shall be removable from office by the Court of Appeals, upon 
information and good cause shown. The Court shall be judge of the 
facts as well as the law. Two-thirds of the members present must 
concur in the sentence. 

CIRCUIT COURTS. 

Sec. 130. A Circuit Court shall be established in each county now 
existing, or which may hereafter be created, in this Commonwealth. 

Sec. 131. The jurisdiction of said Court shall be and remain as 
now established, hereby giving to the General Assembly the power to 
change it. 

Sec. 132. The right to appeal or sue out a writ of error shall 



25 

remain as it now exists until altered by law, hereby giving to the Gen- 
eral Assembly the power to change or modify said right. 

Sec. 133. At the first session after the adoption of this Constitution, 
the General Assembly, having due regard to business, territory and 
population, shall divide the State into a sufficient number of Judicial 
Districts to carry into effect the provisions of this Constitution concern- 
ing Circuit Courts, not to exceed one district for each sixty thousand 
of population, excluding counties having a population of one hundred 
and fifty thousand : Provided, No county shall be divided. 

Sec. 134. The General Assembly shall, at the same time the Judi- 
cial Districts are laid off, direct elections to be held in each district to 
elect a Judge therein. The first election of Judges of the Circuit Courts 
under this Constitution shall take place at the regular annual election 
in eighteen hundred and ninety-two, and the Judges then elected shall 
hold their offices until the regular election in eighteen hundred and 
ninety-seven, and they shall be elected every six years thereafter. 

Sec. 135. No person shall be eligible as Judge of the Circuit Court 
who is not a citizen of Kentucky, a resident of the district in which 
he may be a candidate two years next preceding his election, not less 
than thirty-five years of age when elected, and has not been a practic- 
ing lawyer eight 3 T ears. 

Sec. 136. The Judges of the Circuit Court shall hold their offices 
for the term of six years from the date of their election, except as pro- 
vided in Section 134. They shall be commissioned by the Governor, 
and continue in office until their successors shall have been qualified , 
but shall be removable in the same manner as the Judges of the Court 
of Appeals, and the removal of a Judge from his district shall vacate 
his office. 

Sec. 137. There shall be at least three regular terms of Circuit 
Court held in each county every year. 

Sec. 138. The General Assembly, when deemed necessary, may 
establish additional districts ; but the whole number of districts shall 
not exceed at any time one for every sixty thousand of the popula- 
tion of the State according to the last enumeration. 

Sec. 139. The Judges of the Circuit Court shall, at stated times, 
receive for their services an adequate compensation to be fixed by law, 
which shall be equal and uniform throughout the State. 

Sec. 140. The Judicial Districts of the State shall not be changed 
except at the first session after an enumeration, unless upon the estab- 
lishment of a new district. 

Sec. 141. No Courts, save those provided for in this Constitution, 
shall be established. 



26 

SEC. 142. The General Assembly shall provide by law for holding 
Circuit Courts when, from any cause, the Judge shall fail to attend, 
or, if in attendance, can not properly preside. 

Sec. 143. Each county having a population of one hundred and 
fifty thousand or over, shall constitute a district, which shall be enti- 
tled to four Judges. Additional Judges for said district may, from time 
to time, be authorized by the General Assembly, but not to exceed one 
Judge for each increase of forty thousand of population in said county, 
to be ascertained by the last enumeration. Each of the Judges in such 
a district shall hold a separate Court, except when a general term may 
be held for the purpose of making rules of Court, or as may be required 
by law : Provided, No general term shall have power to review any order, 
decision or proceeding of any branch of the Court in said district made 
in separate term. There shall be one Clerk for such district, who shall 
be known as the Clerk of the Circuit Court. Criminal causes shall be 
under the exclusive jurisdiction of some one branch of said Court, and 
all other litigation in said district, of which the Circuit Court may have 
jurisdiction, shall be distributed as equally as may be between the 
other branches thereof, in accordance with the rules of the Court 
made in general term, or as may be prescribed by law. 

SEC. 144. Each county having a city of twenty thousand inhabit- 
ants, and a population, including said city, of forty thousand or more, 
may constitute a district, and when its population reaches seventy-five 
thousand, the General Assembly may provide that it shall have an addi- 
tional Judge, and such district may have a Judge for each additional 
fifty thousand population above one hundred thousand. And in such 
counties the General Assembly shall by proper laws direct in what 
manner the Courts shall be held and the business therein conducted. 

QUARTERLY COURTS. 

SEC. 145. There shall be established in each county now existing, 
or which may be hereafter created, in this State, a Court, to be 
styled the Quarterly Court, the jurisdiction of which shall be uni- 
form throughout the State, and shall be regulated by a general law, 
and, until changed, shall be the same as that now vested by general 
law in the Quarterly Courts of this Commonwealth. The Judges of 
the County Court shall be the Judges of the Quarterly Courts. 

COUNTY COURTS. 

SEC. 146. There shall be established in each county now exist- 
ing, or which may be hereafter created, in this State, a Court to be 
styled the County Court, to consist of a Judge, who shall have 



27 

attained the age of twenty-five years. He shall be a citizen of Ken- 
tucky and a resident of the county for two years next preceding his 
election. A Judge of the County Court shall be elected by the 
qualified voters of each county at the regular annual election in 
the year eighteen hundred and ninety-four, and again at the regular 
annual election in eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, and every four 
years thereafter, who shall hold his office until his successor shall be 
qualified. He shall be conservator of the peace, and shall receive 
such compensation for his services as may be prescribed by law. He 
shall be commissioned by the Governor, and shall vacate his office by 
removal from the county in which he may have been elected. 

Sec. 147. The jurisdiction of the County Court shall be uniform 
throughout the State, and shall be regulated by law, and, until 
changed, shall be the same as now vested in the County Courts of this 
State by general laws. 

JUSTICES' COURTS. 

Sec. 148. Bach county now existing, or which may hereafter be 
created, in this State, shall be laid off into districts in such manner as 
the General Assembly may direct ; but no county shall have less than 
three nor more than eight districts. At the regular annual election for 
the year eighteen hundred and ninety-four, one Justice of the Peace 
shall be elected in each district, who shall hold office for three 
years and until his successor shall be qualified ; and again at the 
regular annual election in eighteen hundred and ninety-seven, and 
every four years thereafter, there shall be elected one Justice of the 
Peace in each district, who shall hold his office for four years and 
until his successor shall be qualified. The General Assembly shall 
make provisions for regulating the number of said districts, from 
time to time, within the limits herein prescribed, and for fixing the 
boundaries thereof. The jurisdiction of Justices of the Peace shall 
be coextensive with the county, and shall be equal and J uniform 
throughout the State. No person shall be Justice of the Peace, 
unless he be a citizen of Kentucky for two years next before his elec- 
tion, twenty-one years of age and a resident of the district. Jus- 
tices of the Peace shall be conservators of the peace. They shall be 
commissioned by the Governor, and shall vacate their offices by re- 
moval from the districts, respectively, in which they may have been 
elected. 

POLICE COURTS. 

Sec. 149. A Police Court may be established in each city and town 
in this State, with jurisdiction in cases of violation of municipal ordi- 



28 

nances and by-laws occurring within the corporate limits of the city or 
town in which it is established, and such criminal jurisdiction within 
the said limits as Justices of the Peace have. The said Courts may be 
authorized to act as examining courts, but shall have no civil jurisdic- 
tion : Provided, The General Assembly may confer civil jurisdiction on 
Police Courts in cities and towns of the fourth and fifth classes, and in 
towns of the sixth class having a population of two hundred and fifty 
or more, which jurisdiction shall be uniform throughout the State, and 
not exceed that of Justices of the Peace. 

FISCAL COURTS. 

Sec. 150. The Fiscal Court of each county shall consist of the 
Judge of the County Court and the Justices of the Peace, in which 
Court the Judge of the County Court shall preside ; Or the General 
Assembly ma}' provide for the election of not more than three Commis- 
sioners in each county, to be elected by the county at large, who, 
together with the Judge of the County Court, shall constitute the 
Fiscal Court. 



SUFFRAGE AND ELECTIONS. 



Sec. 151. Every male citizen of the United States of the age 
of twenty-one years, who has resided in the State one year and in the 
county six months, and in the precinct in which he offers to vote sixty 
days, next preceding the election, shall be a voter in said precinct and 
not elsewhere ; but the following persons are excepted and shall not 
have the right to vote : - 

First : Persons convicted in any court of competent jurisdiction of 
treason, or felony, or briber in an election, or of such high misdemeanor 
as the General Assembly may declare shall operate as an exclusion from 
the right of suffrage ; but persons hereby excluded may be restored to 
their civil rights by Executive pardon. 

Second: Persons, who, at the time of the election, are in confine- 
ment under the judgment of a court for some penal offense. 

Third: Idiots and insane persons. 

Sec. 152. No person in the military, naval or marine service of the 
United States shall be deemed a resident of this State by reason of being 
stationed within the same. 



29 

Sec. 153. The General Assembly shall provide by law for the reg- 
istration of all persons entitled to vote in cities and towns having a 
population of five thousand or more ; and may provide by general law 
for the registration of other voters in the State. Where registration is 
required, only persons registered shall have the right to vote. The 
mode of registration shall be prescribed by the General Assembly. 

Sec. 154. In all elections by persons in a representative ca pacity. 
the voting shall be viva voce and made a matter of record ;/but all dr 
elections by the people shall be by secret official ballot, furnished by 
public authority to the voters at the polls, and marked by each voter 
in private at the polls, and then and there deposited. The word 
' * election ' ' in this section includes the decision of questions submitted 
to the voters, as well as the choice of officers by them. The General dfe 
Assembly shall make provision so that persons illiterate, blind, or in 
any way disabled, may have their ballots marked as herein requir ed. ^ \ 

Sec. 155. Not more than one election each year shall be held in 
this State, or in any city, town, district, or county thereof. All elections 
of State, county, city, town or district officers shall be held on the first 
Tuesday after the first Monday in November; but no officer of any city, 
town, or county, or of any subdivision thereof, shall be elected in the 
same year in which members of the House of Representatives of the 
United States are elected. District or State officers, including members 
of the General Assembly, may be elected in the same year in which 
members of the House of Representatives of the United States are 
elected. All elections by the people shall be between the hours of 6 
o'clock A. m. and 7 o'clock p. m., but the General Assembly may change 
said hours, and all officers of any election shall be residents and voters 
in the precinct in which they act. The General Assembly shall provide 
by law that all employers shall allow employes, under reasonable regu- 
lations, at least four hours on election days, in which to cast their votes. 

Sec. 156. Voters, in all cases except treason, felony, breach or 
surety of the peace, or violation of the election laws, shall be privileged 
from arrest during their attendance at elections, and while they are 
going to and returning therefrom. 

Sec. 157. Every person shall be disqualified from holding any 
office of trust or profit for the term for which he shall have been elected 
who shall be convicted of having given, or consented to the giving, 
offer or promise of any money or other thing of value, to procure his 
election, or to influence the vote of any voter at such election ; and 
if any corporation shall, directly or indirectly, offer, promise or give, 
or shall authorize, directly or indirectly, any person to offer, promise or 
give any money or anything of value to influence the result of any 



30 

election in this State, or the vote of any voter authorized to vote 
therein, or who shall afterward reimburse or compensate, in any man- 
ner whatever, any person who shall have offered, promised or given 
any money or other thing of value to influence the result of any 
election, or the vote of any such voter, such corporation, if organized 
under the laws of this Commonwealth, shall, on conviction thereof, 
forfeit its charter and all rights, privileges and immunities thereunder ; 
and if chartered by another State and doing business in this State, 
whether by license, or upon mere sufferance, such corporation, upon con? 
viction of either of the offenses aforesaid, shall forfeit all right to carry 
on any business in this State ; and it shall be the duty of the General 
Assembly to provide for the enforcement of the provisions of this sec- 
tion. All persons shall be excluded from office who have been, or shall 
hereafter be, convicted of a felony, or such high misdemeanor as may 
be prescribed by law, but such disability may be removed^by pardon 
of the Governor. The privilege of free suffrage shall be supported by 
laws regulating elections, and prohibiting, under adequate penalties, 
all undue influence thereon, from power, bribery, tumult, or other im- 
proper practices. 

Sec. 158. The General Assembly shall provide suitable means for 
depriving of office any person who, to procure his nomination or elec- 
tion, has, in his canvass or election, been guilty of any unlawful use 
of money, or other thing of value, or has been guilty of fraud, intimi- 
dation, bribery, or any other corrupt practice, and he shall be held 
responsible for acts done by others with his authority, or ratified by 
him. 

Sec. 159. Except as otherwise provided in this Constitution, vacan- 
cies in all elective offices shall be filled by election or appointment, as 
follows : If the unexpired term will end at the next succeeding annual 
election at which either city, town, county, district, or State officers are 
to be elected, the office shall be filled by appointment for the remainder 
of the term. If the unexpired term will not end at the next succeed- 
ing annual election at which either city, town, county, district, or State 
officers are to be elected, and if three months intervene before said 
succeeding annual election at which either city, town, county, district, 
or State officers are to be elected, the office shall be filled by appoint- 
ment until said election, and then said vacancy shall be filled by elec- 
tion for the remainder of the term. If three months do not intervene 
between the happening of said vacancy and the next succeeding election 
at which city, town, county, district, or State officers are to be elected, 
the office shall be filled by appointment until the second succeeding 
annual election at which city, town, county, district, or State officers 



31 

are to be elected ; and then, if any part of the term remains unexpired, 
the office shall be filled by election until the regular time for the elec- 
tion of officers to fill said offices. Vacancies in all offices for the State 
at large, or for districts larger than a county, shall be filled by appoint- 
ment of the Governor ; all other appointments shall be made as may be 
prescribed by law. No member of the General Assembly shall ever be 
appointed, and vacancies therein may be filled at a special election, in 
such manner as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 160. Except as otherwise herein expressly provided, the 
General Assembly shall have power to provide by general law for the 
manner of voting, for ascertaining the result of elections and making 
due returns thereof, for issuing certificates or commissions to all per- 
sons entitled thereto, and for the trial of contested elections. 

Sec 161. The General Assembly shall prescribe such laws as 
may be necessary for the restriction or prohibition of the sale of spir- 
ituous, vinous, or malt liquors on election days. 

Sec. 162. The provisions of Sections 151 to 161, inclusive, shall 
not apply to the election of School Trustees and other common school 
district elections. Said elections shall be regulated by the General 
Assembly, except as otherwise provided in this Constitution. 



MUNICIPALITIES. 



SEC. 163. The cities and towns of this Commonwealth, for the 
purposes of their organization and government, shall be divided into 
six classes. The organization and powers of each class shall be 
defined and provided for by general laws, so that all municipal cor- 
porations of the same class shall possess the same powers and be 
subject to the same restrictions. To the first class shall belong cities 
with a population of one hundred thousand or more, and the city of 
I/)uisville is hereby declared a city of the first class ; to the second 
class, cities with a population of thirty thousand or more, and less than 
one hundred thousand ; to the third class, cities with a population of 
eight thousand or more, and less than thirty thousand ; to the fourth 
class, cities and towns with a population of three thousand or more, 
and less than eight thousand ; to the fifth class, cities and towns with 
a population of one thousand or more, and less than three thousand ; 



32 

to the sixth class, towns with a population of one thousand 
or less. The General Assembly shall assign the cities and towns 
of the Commonwealth to the classes to which they respectively 
belong, and change assignments made as the population of said 
cities and towns may increase or decrease, and in the absence of 
other satisfactory information as to their population, shall be gov- 
erned by the last preceding Federal census in so doing ; but no city 
or town shall be transferred from one class to another, except in pur- 
suance of a law previously enacted and providing therefor. The Gen- 
eral Assembly, by a general law, shall provide how towns may be 
organized, and enact laws for the government of such towns, until the 
same are assigned to one or the other of the classes above named ; but 
such assignment shall be made at the first session of the General 
Assembly after the organization of said town or city. 

Sec. 164. The tax rate of cities, towns, counties, taxing districts, 
and other municipalities, for other than school purposes, shall not, at 
anytime, exceed the following rates upon the value of the taxable 
property therein, viz : For all towns or cities having a population of 
fifteen thousand or more, one dollar and fifty cents on the hundred 
dollars ; for all towns or cities having less than fifteen thousand and 
not less than ten thousand, one dollar on the hundred dollars ; for all 
towns or cities having less than ten thousand, seventy-five cents on 
the hundred dollars ; and for counties and taxing districts, fifty cents 
on the hundred dollars ; unless it should be necessary to enable such 
city, town, county, or taxing district to pa3^ the interest on, and provide 
a sinking fund for the extinction of, indebtedness contracted before the 
adoption of this Constitution. No county, city, town, taxing district, 
or municipality, shall be authorized or permitted to become indebted, 
in any manner or for any purpose, to an amount exceeding, in any 
year, the income and revenue provided for such year, without the 
assent of two-thirds of the voters thereof, voting at an election to be 
held for that purpose ; and any indebtedness contracted in violation of 
this section shall be void. Nor shall such contract be enforceable by 
the person with whom made ; nor shall such municipality ever be 
authorized to assume the same. 

Sec. 165. The respective cities, towns, counties, taxing districts, 
and municipalities shall not be authorized or permitted to incur 
indebtedness to an amount, including existing indebtedness, in the 
aggregate exceeding the following named maximum percentages on 
the value of the taxable property therein, to be estimated by the 
assessment next before the last assessment previous to the incurring 
of the indebtedness, viz : Cities of the first and second classes, and of 
the third class having a population exceeding fifteen thousand, ten 



33 

per centum \ cities of the third class having a population of less than 
fifteen thousand, and cities and towns of the fourth class, five per 
centum-, cities and towns of the fifth and sixth classes, three per 
ce?itum; and counties, taxing districts and other municipalities, two 
per centum : Provided, Any city, town, county, taxing district or 
other municipality may contract an indebtedness in excess of such 
limitations when the same has been authorized under laws in force 
prior to the adoption of this Constitution, or when necessary for the 
completion of and payment for a public improvement undertaken and 
not completed and paid for at the time of the adoption of this Consti- 
tution : And Provided Further, If, at the time of the adoption of this 
Constitution, the aggregate indebtedness of any city, town, county, 
taxing district or other municipality, bonded or floating, including 
that w T hich it has been or may be authorized to contract as herein pro- 
vided, shall exceed the limit herein prescribed, then no city or town 
shall be authorized or permitted to increase its indebtedness in an 
amount exceeding two per centum, and no county, taxing district or 
other municipality , in an amount exceeding one per centum, in the 
aggregate upon the value of the taxable property therein, to be 
ascertained as herein provided, until the aggregate of its indebtedness 
shall have been reduced below the limit herein fixed, and thereafter 
it shall not exceed the limit, unless in case of emergency, the pub- 
lic health or safety should so require. Nothing herein shall prevent 
the issue of renewal bonds, or bonds to fund the floating indebted- 
ness of any city, town, county, taxing district or other municipality. 

Sec i 66. Whenever any county, city, town, taxing district or other 
municipality, is authorized to contract an indebtedness, it shall be re- 
quired, at the same time, to provide for the collection of an annual tax 
sufficient to pay the interest on said indebtedness, and to create a sink- 
ing fund for the payment of the principal thereof, within not more than 
forty years from the time of contracting the same. 

Sec. 167. The Mayor, Chief Executive, Police Judges, members of 
legislative boards or councils and of school boards of towns and cities 
shall be elected by the qualified voters thereof: Provided, The Mayor, 
Chief Executive and Police Judges of the towns of the fourth, fifth 
and sixth classes may be appointed or elected as provided by law : And 
Provided Further, In cities of the third class, the population of which is 
twenty thousand and over, members of the school board may be ap- 
pointed or elected, as provided by a general law. The terms of office of 
Mayors and Police Judges shall be four years, and until their successors 
shall be qualified ; and of members of legislative and school boards, two 
years. When any city of the first or second class is divided into 



84 

wards or districts, members of legislative boards shall be elected at 
large by the qualified voters of said city, but so selected that an equal 
proportion thereof shall reside in each of the said wards or districts; 
but when in any city of the first, second or third class, there are 
two legislative boards, the less numerous shall be selected from and 
elected by the voters at large of said city ; but other officers of towns 
or cities shall be elected by the qualified voters therein, or appointed 
by the local authorities thereof, as the General Assembly may, by a 
general law. provide ; but when elected by the voters of a town or city, 
their terms of office shall be four years, and until their successors shall 
be qualified. No Mayor, Chief Executive or fiscal officer of any city 
of the first or second class, or of the third class, having a population 
of twenty thousand and over, after the expiration of his term of office, 
shall be eligible for the succeeding term. " Fiscal officer " shall not 
include an Auditor or Assessor, or any other officer whose chief duty 
is not the collection or holding of public moneys. The General Assem- 
bly shall prescribe the qualifications of all officers of towns and cities, 
the manner in and causes for which they may be removed from office, 
and how vacancies in offices may be filled. 

Skc. i 68. The compensation of any city, county, town or munici- 
pal officer shall not be changed after his election or appointment, 
or during his term of office ; nor shall the term of any such officer be 
extended beyond the period for which he may have been elected or 
appointed. 

SKC. 169. No county, city, town or other municipality shall ever 
be authorized or permitted to pay any claim created against it, under 
any agreement or contract made without express authority of law, 
and all such unauthorized agreements or contracts shall be null and 
void. 

Skc. 170. No street railway, gas, water, steam heating, telephone, 
or electric light company, within a city or town, shall be permitted or 
authorized to construct its tracks, lay its pipes or mains, or erect its 
poles, posts or other apparatus along, over, under or across the streets, 
alleys or public grounds of a city or town, without the consent of the 
proper legislative bodies or boards of such city or town being first 
obtained ; but "when charters have been heretofore granted conferring 
such rights, and work has in good faith been begun thereunder, the 
provisions of this section shall not apply. 

Skc. 171. No county, city, town, taxing district, or other munici- 
pality shall be authorized or permitted to grant any franchise or priv- 
ilege, or make any contract in reference thereto, for a term exceeding 
twenty years. Before granting such franchise or privilege for a term 



35 

of years, such municipality shall first, after due advertisement, receive 
bids therefor publicly, and award the same to the highest and best 
bidder ; but it shall have the right to reject any or all bids. This 
section shall not apply to a trunk railway. 

Sec. 172. No person shall, at the same time, be a State officer or a 
deputy officer, or member of the General Assembly, and an officer of 
any county, city, town or other municipality, or an employe thereof; 
and no person shall, at the same time, fill two municipal offices, either 
in the same or different municipalities, except as may be otherwise 
provided in this Constitution ; but a notary public, or an officer of the 
militia, shall not be ineligible to hold any other office mentioned in 
this section. 

Sec. 173. All acts of incorporation of cities and towns heretofore 
granted, and all amendments thereto, shall continue in force under 
this Constitution, and all city and police courts established in any city 
or town shall remain, with their present powers and jurisdictions, 
until such time as the General Assembly shall provide by general laws 
for the government of towns and cities, and the officers and courts 
thereof; but not longer than four years from and after the first day of 
January, one thousand eight hundred and ninety-one, within which 
time the General Assembly shall provide by general laws for the gov- 
ernment of towns and cities, and the officers and courts thereof, as 
provided in this Constitution. 

SEC. 174. No municipal ordinance shall fix a penalty for a violation 
thereof at less than that imposed by statute for the same offense. A 
conviction or acquittal under either shall constitute a bar to another 
prosecution for the same offense. 



REVENUE AND TAXATION. 



Sec. 175. The fiscal year shall commence on the first day of July 
in each year, unless otherwise provided by law. 

Sec. 176. There shall be exempt from taxation public property 
used for public purposes ; places actually used for religious worship, 
with the grounds attached thereto and used and appurtenant to the 
house of worship, not exceeding one-half acre in cities or towns, and 
not exceeding two acres in the country ; places of burial not held for 



38 

private or corporate profit, institutions of purely public charity, 
and institutions of education not used or employed for gain by any 
person or corporation, and the income of which is devoted solely to the 
cause of education ; public libraries, their endowments, and the income 
of such property as is used exclusively for their maintenance ; all par- 
sonages or residences owned by any religious society and occupied as 
a home, and for no other purpose, by the minister of any religion ; and 
crops grown in the year in which the assessment is made and in the 
hands of the producer ; and all laws exempting or commuting property 
from taxation other than the property above mentioned shall be void : 
Provided, Not more in value of household goods and other personal 
property, of a person with a family, than two hundred and fifty dollars 
shall be exempted from taxation : And Provided Further, The 
General Assembly may authorize any incorporated city or town to 
exempt manufacturing establishments from municipal taxation, for a 
period not exceeding five years, as an inducement to their location. 

Sec. 177. The General Assembly shall provide by law an annual 
tax, which, with other resources, shall be sufficient to defray the esti- 
mated expenses of the Commonwealth for each fiscal year. Taxes 
shall be levied and collected for public purposes only. They shall be 
uniform upon all property subject to taxation within the territorial 
limits of the authority levying the tax ; and all taxes shall be levied 
and collected by general laws. 

Sec. 178. All property, not exempted from taxation by this Con- 
stitution, shall be assessed for taxation at its fair cash value, esti- 
mated at the price it would bring at a fair voluntary sale ; and any 
officer, or other person authorized to assess values for taxation, who 
shall commit any willful error in the performance of his duty, shall be 
deemed guilty of misfeasance, and upon conviction thereof shall for- 
feit his office, and be otherwise punished as may be provided by law. 

Sec. 179. The receiving, directly or indirectly, by any officer of the 
Commonwealth, or of any county, city or town, or member or officer 
of the General Assembly, of any interest, profit or perquisites arising 
from the use or loan of public funds in his hands, or moneys to be 
raised through his agency for State, city, town or county purposes, 
shall be deemed a felony. Said offense shall be punished as may be 
prescribed by law, a part of which punishment shall be disqualifica- 
tion to hold office. 

SEC. 180. All property in this State, whether owned by natural 
persons or corporations, shall be taxed in proportion to its value, 
unless exempted by this Constitution ; and all corporate property shall 
pay the same rate of taxation paid by individual property. Nothing 



37 

n this Constitution shall be construed to prevent the General Assembly 
rom providing for taxation based on income, licenses or franchises. 

Sec. 181. The power to tax property shall not be surrendered or 
suspended by any contract or grant to which the Commonwealth shall 
:>e a part}'. 

Sec 182. The Commonwealth shall not assume the debt of any 
:ounty, municipal corporation or political subdivision of the State, 
mless such debt shall have been contracted to defend itself in time of 
war, to repel invasion, or to suppress insurrection. 

Sec. 183. The credit of the Commonwealth shall not be pledged 
Dr loaned to any individual, company, corporation or association, mu- 
nicipality, or political subdivision of the State; nor shall the Common- 
wealth become an owner or stockholder in, nor make donation to, 
my company, association or corporation ; nor shall the Commonwealth 
:onstruct a railroad or other highway. 

Sec. 184. All laws authorizing the borrowing of money by and on 
behalf of the Commonwealth, county or other political subdivision of 
the State, shall specify the purpose for which the money is to be used, 
and the money so borrowed shall be used for no other purpose. 

Sec. 185. The General Assembly shall not authorize any county 
or subdivision thereof, city, town, or incorporated district, to become 
a stockholder in any company, association or corporation, or to obtain 
or appropriate money for, or to loan its credit to, any corporation, 
association or individual, except for the purpose of constructing or 
maintaining bridges, turnpike roads, or gravel roads: Provided, If 
any municipal corporation shall offer to the Commonwealth any 
property or money for locating or building a Capitol, and the Com- 
monwealth accepts such offer, the corporation may comply with the 
offer. 

Sec. 186. The General Assembly may authorize the counties, 
cities or towns to levy a poll-tax not exceeding one dollar and fifty 
cents per head. Every act. enacted by the General Assembly, and 
every ordinance and resolution passed by any county, city, town, or 
municipal board or local legislative body, levying a tax, shall specify 
distinctly the purpose for which said tax is levied, and no tax levied 
and collected for one purpose shall ever be devoted to another purpose. 
Sec. 187. The General Assembly shall not impose taxes for the 
purposes of any county, city, town or other municipal corporation, 
DUt may, by general laws, confer on the proper authorities thereof, 
respectively, the power to assess and collect such taxes. 

Sec. 188. The General Assembly may, by general laws only, pro- 
vide for the payment of license fees on franchises, stock used for 



38 

breeding purposes, the various trades, occupations and professions, or 
a special or excise tax ; and may, by general laws, delegate the power 
to counties, towns, cities, and other municipal corporations, to impose 
and collect license fees on stock used for breeding purposes, on fran- 
chises, trades, occupations and professions. 

Sec. 189. Nothing in this Constitution contained shall be so con- 
strued as to prevent the General Assembly from providing by law how 
railroads and railroad property shall be assessed and how caxes thereon 
shall be collected. 



EDUCATION. 



Sec. 190. The General Assembly shall, by appropriate legislation, 
provide for an efficient system of common schools throughout the 
State. 

SEC. 191. The bond of the Commonwealth issued in favor of the 
Board of Education for the sum of one million three hundred and 
twenty-seven thousand dollars shall constitute one bond of the Com- 
monwealth in favor of the Board of Education, and this bond and the 
seventy-three thousand five hundred dollars of the stock in the Bank 
of Kentucky, held by the Board of Education, and Its proceeds, shall 
be held inviolate for the purpose of sustaining the system of common 
schools. The interest and dividends of said fund, together with any 
sum which may be produced by taxation or otherwise for purposes 
of common school education, shall be appropriated to the common 
schools, and to no other purpose. No sum shall be raised or collected 
for education other than in common schools until the question of tax- 
ation is submitted to the legal voters, and the majority of the votes 
cast at said election shall be in favor of such taxation : Provided, The 
tax now imposed for educational purposes, and for the endowment 
and maintenance of the Agricultural and MechanicaljCollege, shall re- 
main until changed by law. 

Sec. 192. The General Assembly shall make provisions, by law, 
for the payment of the interest of said school fund. The General 
Assembly may make provision for the sale of the stock in the Bank 
of Kentucky ; and in case of a sale of all or any part of said stock, the 
proceeds of sale shall be invested by the Sinking Fund Commissioners 
in other good interest-bearing stocks or bonds, which shall be subject 



39 

to sale and reinvestment, from time to time, in like manner, and with 
the same restrictions, as provided with reference to the sale of the said 
stock in the Bank of Kentucky. 

Sec. 193. Each county in the Commonwealth shall be entitled to 
its proportion of the school fund on its census of pupil children for 
each school year ; and if the pro rata share of any school district be 
not called for after the second school year, it shall be covered into the 
treasury and be placed to the credit of the school fund for general 
apportionment the following school year. The surplus now due the 
several counties shall remain a perpetual obligation against the Com- 
monwealth for the benefit of said respective counties, for which the 
Commonwealth shall execute its bond, bearing interest at the rate of 
six per centum per annum, payable annually to the counties respect- 
ively entitled to the same, and in the proportion to which they are 
entitled, to be used exclusively in aid of common schools. 

Sec. 194. In distributing tl ~ school fund no distinction shall be 
made on account of race or cole, and separate schools for white and 
colored children shall be maintained. 

Sec. 195. A Superintendent of Public Instruction shall be elected 
by the qualified voters of the State at the same time the Governor 
is elected, who shall hold his office for four years, and until his suc- 
cessor shall be qualified. His duties, salary and qualifications shall 
be prescribed by law. 

Sec. 196. So much of any moneys as may be received by the Com- 
monwealth from the United States under the recent act of Congress 
refunding the direct tax shall become a part of the school fund, and 
be held as provided in Section 191 ; but the General Assembly may au- 
thorize the use, by the Commonwealth, of the moneys so received, or 
any part thereof, in which event a bond shall be executed to the Board 
of Education for the amount so used, which bond shall be held on the 
same terms and conditions, and subject to the provisions of Section 
191, concerning the bond therein referred to. 

Sec. 197. No portion of any fund or tax now existing, or that may 
hereafter be raised or levied for educational purposes, shall be appro- 
priated to, or used by, or in aid of, any church, sectarian or denomina- 
tional school. 



h 



40 



CORPORATIONS, 



SEC. 198. No corporation in existence at the time of the adoption 
of this Constitution shall have the benefit of future legislation with- 
out first filing in the office of the Secretary of State an acceptance of 
the provisions of this Constitution. 

SKC. 199. All existing charters or grants of special or exclusive 
privileges, under which a bona fide organization shall not have taken 
place, and business been commenced in good faith at the time of the 
adoption of this Constitution, shall thereafter be void and of no 
effect. 

SKC. 200. No corporation shall engage in business other than that 
expressly authorized by its charter, or the law under which it may 
have been or hereafter may be organized, nor shall it hold any real 
estate, except such as may be proper and necessary for carrying on its 
legitimate business, for a longer period than five years, under penalty 
of escheat. 

Skc. 201. No corporation shall issue stock or bonds except for an 
equivalent in money paid or labor done, or property actually received 
and applied to the purposes for which such corporation was created, 
and neither labor nor property shall be received in payment of stock 
or bonds at a greater value than the market price at the time said 
labor was done or property delivered, and all fictitious increase of 
stock or indebtedness shall be void. 

Sec. 202. All corporations formed under the laws of this State, or 
carrying on business in this State, shall, at all times, have one or more 
known places of business in this State, and an authorized agent or 
agents there, upon whom process may be executed, and the General 
Assembly shall enact laws to carry into effect the provisions of this 
section. 

Sec. 203. The Commonwealth, in the exercise of the right of 
eminent domain, shall have and retain the same powers to take the 
property and franchises of incorporated companies for public use 
which it has and retains to take the property of individuals, and the 
exercise of the police powers of this Commonwealth shall never be 
abridged or so construed as to permit corporations to conduct their 
business in such manner as to infringe upon the equal rights of indi- 
viduals. 



41 

Sec. 204. Transportation of freight and passengers by railroad, 
teamboat or other common carrier, shall be so regulated, by general 
aw, as to prevent unjust discrimination. No common carrier shall be 
permitted to contract for relief from its common law liability. 

Sec. 205. No railroad, steamboat or other common carrier, under 
heavy penalty to be fixed by the General Assembly, shall give a free 
pass or passes, or shall, at reduced rates not common to the public, 
ell tickets for transportation to any State, district, city, town or 
county officer, or member of the General Assembly, or Judge ; and any 
State, district, city, town or county officer, or member of the General 
Assembly, or Judge, who shall accept or use a free pass or passes, or 
shall receive or use tickets or transportation at reduced rates not 
common to the public, shall forfeit his office. It shall be the duty of 
the General Assembly to enact laws to enforce the provisions of this 
section. 

Sec. 206. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly, from time 
to time, as necessity may require, to enact such laws as may be nec- 
essary to prevent all trusts, pools, combinations or other organiza- 
tions, from combining to depreciate below its real value any article, or 
to enhance the cost of any article above its real value. 

Sec. 207. Any association or corporation, or the lessees or managers 
thereof, organized for the purpose, or any individual, shall have the 
right to construct and maintain lines of telegraph within this State, 
and to connect the same with other lines, and said companies shall 
receive and transmit each other's messages without unreasonable delay 
or discrimination, and all such companies are hereby declared to be 
common carriers and subject to legislative control. Telephone com- 
panies operating exchanges in different towns or cities, or other public 
stations, shall receive and transmit each other's messages without 
unreasonable delay or discrimination. The General Assembly shall, 
by general laws of uniform operation, provide reasonable regulations 
to give full effect to this section : Provided, Nothing herein shall be 
so construed as to interfere with the rights of cities or towns to 
arrange and control their streets and alleys, and to designate the places 
at which, and the manner in which, the wires of such companies shall 
be erected or laid within the limits of such city or town* 

Sec. 208. If any railroad, telegraph, express or other corporation, 
organized under the laws of this Commonwealth, shall consolidate by 
sale or otherwise, with any railroad, telegraph, express or other corpo- 
ration organized under the laws of any other State, the same shall not 
thereby become a foreign corporation, but the courts of this Common- 
wealth shall retain jurisdiction over that part of the corporate property 



42 

within the limits of this State in all matters which may arise, as if said 
consolidation had not taken place. 

SEC. 209. No railroad or telegraph, telephone or common carrier, 
company shall consolidate its capital stock, franchises or property, or 
pool its earnings, in whole or in part, with any other railroad or tele- 
graph, telephone or common carrier company, owning a parallel or com- 
peting line, or acquire by purchase, lease or otherwise, any parallel or 
competing line, or operate the same ; nor shall any railroad company or 
other common carrier combine, or make any contract with the owners 
of any vessel that leaves or makes port in this State, or with any com- 
mon carrier, by which combination or contract the earnings of one 
doing the carrying are to be shared by the other not doing the car- 
rying. 

Sec. 210. No corporation organized outside the limits of this 
State shall be allowed to transact business within the State on more 
favorable conditions than are prescribed by law to similar corporations 
organized under the laws of this Commonwealth. 

SEC. 211. No corporation shall lease or alienate any franchise so 
as to relieve the franchise or property held thereunder from the liabili- 
ties of the lessor or grantor, lessee or grantee, contracted or incurred 
in the operation/ use or enjoyment of such franchise, or any of its 
privileges. 

Sec. 212. Any President, Director, Manager, Cashier or other 
officer of any banking institution or association for the deposit or loan 
of money, or individual banker, who shall receive or assent to the re- 
ceiving of deposits after he shall have knowledge of the fact that such 
banking institution or association or individual banker is insolvent, 
shall be individually responsible for such deposits so received, and 
shall be guilty of felony and subject to such punishment as shall be 
prescribed by law. 

Sec. 213. The General Assembly shall, by general laws, provide 
for the revocation or forfeiture of the charters of all corporations 
guilty of abuse or misuse of their corporate powers, privileges or 
franchises, or whenever said corporations become detrimental to the 
interest and welfare of the Commonwealth or its citizens. 

Sec. 214. All elevators or storehouses, where grain or other 
property is stored for a compensation, whether the property stored be 
kept separate or not, are declared to be public warehouses, subject to 
legislative control, and the General Assembly shall enact laws for the 
inspection of grain and other produce, and for the protection of pro- 
ducers, shippers and receivers of grain and other produce. 

Sec. 215. In all elections for directors or managers of any corpo- 



43 

ration, each shareholder shall have the right to cast as many votes in 
the aggregate as he shall be entitled to vote in said company under 
its charter, multiplied by the number of directors or managers to be 
elected at such election ; and each shareholder may cast the whole 
number of votes, either in person or by proxy, for one candidate, or 
distribute such votes among two or more candidates, and such direct- 
ors or managers shall not be elected in any other manner. 

Sec. 2 i 6. The word corporation, as used in this Constitution, 
shall embrace joint stock companies and associations. 



RAILROADS AND COMMERCE. 



Sec. 217. A commission is hereby established, to be known as the 
" Kentucky Railroad Commission," which shall be composed of three 
Commissioners, appointed by the Governor, by and with the advice 
and consent of the Senate, one from each Superior Court district as 
now established. The Commissioners first appointed shall continue 
in office for the term of two, four and six years, respectively, from the 
first day of June, eighteen hundred and ninety-two ; the term of each 
to be designated by the Governor; but their successors shall be 
appointed for terms of six years. In case of vacancy, the appoint- 
ment shall be made only for the unexpired term. No person in the 
employ, or in anywise pecuniarily interested as a common carrier, or 
in a railroad corporation, or in railroad business, shall hold such 
office. The powers and duties of the Railroad Commissioners shall be 
regulated by law ; and until otherwise provided by law, the Commis- 
sion so created shall have the same powers and jurisdiction, perform 
the same duties, be subject to the same regulations, and receive the 
same compensation, as now conferred, prescribed and allowed by law 
to the existing Railroad Commissioners. The General Assembly may, 
for cause, address any of said Commissioners out of office by similar 
proceedings as in the case of Judges of the Court of Appeals ; and 
the General Assembly shall enact laws to prevent the nonfeasance and 
misfeasance in office of said Commissioners, and to impose proper 
penalties therefor. 

Sec. 218. No corporation engaged in the business of a common 
carrier shall, directly or indirectly, own, manage, operate, or engage in 
any other business than that of a common carrier, or hold, own, lease 



44 

or acquire, directly or indirectly, mines, factories, timber or lands, 
except such as shall be necessary to carry on its business ; and the 
General Assembly shall enact laws to give effect to the provisions of 
this section. 

Sec. 219. No railroad corporation organized under the laws of any 
other State, or of the United States, and doing business, or proposing 
to do business, in this State, shall be entitled to exercise the right of 
eminent domain, or have power to acquire the right of way. or real 
estate for depot or other uses, until it shall have become a body corpo- 
rate pursuant to and in accordance with the laws of this Common- 
wealth. 

Sec. 220. The rolling stock and other movable property belonging 
to any railroad corporation or company in this State shall be consid- 
ered personal property, and shall be liable to execution and sale in 
the same manner as the personal property of individuals. The earn- 
ings of any railroad company or corporation, and choses in action, 
money and personal property of all kinds belonging to it, in the hands, 
or under the control of, any officer, agent or employe of such corpora- 
tion or company, shall be subject to process of attachment and gar- 
nishment to the same extent and in the same manner, as like property 
of individuals when in the hands or under the control of other per- 
sons. Any such earnings, choses in action, money or other personal 
property may be subjected to the payment of any judgment against 
such corporation or company by action in equity, in the same manner 
and to the same extent as such property of individuals in the hands of 
third persons. 

Sec. 221. All railroad, transfer, belt lines and railway bridge com- 
panies organized under the laws of Kentucky, or operating, maintaining 
or controlling any railroad, transfer, belt lines or bridges, or doing a rail- 
way business in this State, shall receive, transfer, deliver and switch 
empty or loaded cars, and shall move, transport, receive, load or un- 
load all the freight in car loads or less quantities, coming to or going 
from any railroad, transfer, belt line, bridge, or siding thereon, with 
equal promptness and dispatch, and without any discrimination as to 
charges, preference, drawback or rebate in favor of any person, corpora- 
tion, consignee or consignor, in any matter as to payment, transporta- 
tion, handling or delivery ; and shall so receive, deliver, transfer and 
transport all freight as above set forth, from and to any point where 
there is a physical connection between the tracks of said companies. 
But this shall not be construed as requiring any such common carrier to 
allow the use of its tracks for the trains of another engaged in like 
business, 



45 

Sec. 222. No railway, transfer, belt line or railway bridge conl- 
pany shall make any exclusive or preferential contract or arrangement 
with any individual, association or corporation, for the receipt, transfer, 
delivery, transportation, handling, care or custody of any freight, or 
for the conduct of any business as a common carrier. 

Sec 223. All railway, transfer, belt lines or railway bridge compa- 
nies shall receive, load, unload, transport, haul, deliver and handle 
freight of the same class for all persons, associations or corporations 
from and to the same points and upon the same conditions, in the same 
manner and for the same charges, and for the same method of payment. 

Sec. 224. The provisions of Sections 221, 222 and 223 shall apply 
to all railroads, transfer or belt lines or bridges now built, or heretofore 
to be built, and to all corporations now existing or hereafter organized. 
SEC. 225. All railway, transfer, belt lines and railway bridge compa- 
nies shall allow the tracks of each other to unite, intersect and cross 
at any point where such union, intersection and crossing is reasonable 
or feasible. 

Sec. 226. Any person, association or corporation, willfully or know- 
ingly violating any of the provisions of Section 221, 222, 223, 224 or 
225 shall, upon conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, for the 
first offense be fined two thousand dollars ; for the second offense, five 
thousand dollars, and for the third offense shall thereupon, ipso facto, 
forfeit its franchises, privileges or charter rights ; and if such delinquent' 
be a foreign corporation, shall, ipso facto, forfeit its right to do business 
in this State ; and the Attorney General of the Commonwealth shall 
forthwith, upon notice of the violation of any of said provisions, institute 
proceedings to enforce the provisions of the aforesaid sections. 

Sec. 227. It shall be unlawful for any person or corporation, owning 
or operating a railroad in this State, or any common carrier, to charge 
or receive any greater compensation in the aggregate for the transporta- 
tion of passengers, or of property of like kind, under substantially sim- 
ilar circumstances and conditions, for a shorter than for a longer 
distance over the same line, in the same direction, the shorter being 
included within the longer distance ; but this shall not be construed as 
authorizing any common carrier, or person or corporation, owning or 
operating a railroad in this State, to receive as great compensation for 
a shorter as for a longer distance : Provided, That upon application to 
the Railroad Commission, such common carrier, or person, or corpo- 
ration owning or operating a railroad in this State, may in special cases, 
after investigation by the Commission, be authorized to charge less for 
longer than for shorter distances for the transportation of passengers, or 
property; and the Commission may, from time to time, prescribe the 



46 



extent to which such common carrier, or person or corporation owning 
or operating a railroad in this State, may be relieved from the operations 
of this section. 



THE MILITIA. 



SEC. 228. The militia of the Commonwealth of Kentucky shall 
consist of all able-bodied male residents of the State between the ages 
of eighteen and forty-five years, except such persons as may be 
exempted by the laws of the State, or of the United States. 

Sec. 229. The General Assembly shall provide for maintaining the 
organized militia ; and may exempt from military service persons hav- 
ing conscientious scruples against bearing arms : Provided, Such per- 
sons shall pay an equivalent for such exemption. 

Sec. 230. The organization, equipment and discipline of the militia 
shall conform as nearly as practicable to the regulations for the govern- 
ment of the armies of the United States. 

Sec. 231. All militia officers, whose appointment is not herein 
otherwise provided for, shall be elected by persons subject to military 
duty within their respective companies, battalions, regiments or othex 
commands, under such rules and regulations and for such terms, not 
exceeding four years, as the General Assembly may from time to time 
direct and establish. The Governor shall appoint an Adjutant General 
and his other staff* officers ; the Generals and commandants of regiments 
and battalions shall respectively appoint their staff officers, and the com- 
mandants of companies shall, subject to the approval of their regi- 
mental or battalion commanders, appoint their non-commissioned officers. 
The Governor shall have power to fill vacancies that may occur in elec- 
tive offices by granting commissions which shall expire when such 
vacancies shall have been filled according to the provisions of this Con- 
stitution. 

! Sec. 232. The General Assembly shall provide for the safe-keeping 
of the public arms, militarv records, relics and banners of the Common- 
wealth of Kentucky. 



47 



GENERAL PROVISIONS. 



Sec. 233. The General Assembly shall provide by a general law 
vhat officers shall execute bond for the faithful discharge of their 
uties, and fix the liability therein. 

Sec 234. No armed person or bodies of men shall be brought into 
lis State for the preservation of the peace or the suppression of 
omestic violence, except upon the application of the General Assem- 
ly, or of the Governor when the Assembly may not be in session. 

SEC 235. Lotteries and gift enterprises are forbidden, and no 

trivileges shall be granted for such purposes, and none shall be ex- 

rcised, and no schemes for similar purposes shall be allowed. The 

eneral Assembly shall enforce this section by proper penalties. All 

Dttery privileges or charters heretofore granted are revoked. 

SEC. 236. Judges of the County Court, Justices of the Peace, Sheriffs, 
Coroners. Surveyors, Jailers, Assessors, County Attorneys and Consta- 
les shall be subject to indictment or prosecution for misfeasance or 
lalfeasance in office, or willful neglect in discharge of official duties, in 
uch mode as may be prescribed by law ; and upon conviction, his office 
lall become vacant, but such officer shall have the right of appeal to 
le Court of Appeals. 

Sec. 237. Members of the General Assembly and all officers, before 
ley enter upon the execution of the duties of their respective offices, 
tid all members of the bar, before they enter upon the practice of their 
rofession, shall take the following oath or affirmation : I do solemnly 
Near (or affirm, as the case may be) that I will support the Constitu- 
on of the United States and the Constitution of this Commonwealth, 
id be faithful and true to the Commonwealth of Kentucky so long as 
continue a citizen thereof, and that I will faithfully execute, to the 

st of my abilities the office of , according to law ; and I do fur- 

Ler solemnly swear (or affirm) that since the adoption of the present 
onstitution, I, being a citizen of this State, have not fought a duel 
ith deadly weapons within this State nor out of it, nor have I sent or 
:cepted a challenge to fight a duel with deadly weapons, nor have I 
±ed as second in carrying a challenge, nor aided or assisted any 
rson thus offending, so help me God. 

Sec. 238 Treason against the Commonwealth shall consist only in 
7ying war against it, or in adhering to its enemies, giving them aid 
d comfort. No person shall be convicted of treason except on the 



48 

testimony of two witnesses to the same overt act, or his own confession 
in open court. 

SEC. 239. No money shall be drawn from the State Treasury, except 
in pursuance of appropriations made by law ; and a regular statement 
and account of the receipts and expenditures of all public money shall 
be published annually. 

Sec. 240. The General Assembly may, by law, direct in what manner 
and in what courts suits may be brought against the Commonwealth. 

SEC. 241. The manner of administering an oath or affirmation 
shall be such as is most consistent with the conscience of the deponent, 
and shall be esteemed by the General Assembly the most solemn appeal 
to God. 

Sec. 242. All laws which, on the first day of June, one thousand 
seven hundred and ninety-two, were in force in the State of Virginia, 
and which are of a general nature and not local to that State, and not 
repugnant to this Constitution, nor to the laws which have been 
enacted by the General Assembly of this Commonwealth, shall be in 
force within this State until they shall be altered or repealed by th 
General Assembly. 

Sec. 243. All civil officers for the State at large shall reside within 
the State, and all district, county, city or town officers shall reside 
within their respective districts, counties, cities or towns, and shal 
keep their offices at such places therein as may be required by law. 

Sec. 244. The salaries of public officers shall not be changed during 
the terms for which they were elected ; but it shall be the duty of the 
General Assembly to regulate, by a general law, in what cases anc 
what deductions shall be made for neglect of official duties. This sec 
tion shall apply to members of the General Assembly also. 

SEC. 245. The General Assembly shall, by law, prescribe the time 
when the several officers authorized or directed by this Constitution t( 
be elected or appointed, shall enter upon the duties of their respective 
offices, except where the time is fixed by this Constitution. 

Sec. 246. No member of Congress, or any person holding or exer 
cising any office of trust or profit under the United States, or either o 
them, or under any foreign power, shall be eligible to hold or exercis< 
any office of trust or profit under this Constitution, or the laws made ii 
pursuance thereof. 

Sec. 247. The General Assembly shall direct by law how person 
who now are, or may hereafter become, sureties for public officers, ma; 
be relieved of or discharged from such suretyship. 

SEC. 248. Any person who shall, after the adoption of this Const} 
tution, either directly or indirectly, give, accept or knowingly carry 






40 

llenge to any person or persons to fight in single combat, with a 
zen of this State, with any deadly weapon, either in or out of the 
te, shall be deprived of the right to hold any office of honor or profit 
this Commonwealth ; but if said acts, or any of them, be committed 
hin this State, the person or persons committing them shall be pun- 
ed otherwise in such manner as the General Assembly may prescribe 
law. 

SEC. 249. The Governor shall have power, after five years from 

time of the offense, to pardon all persons who shall have in any 

e participated in a duel, either as principals, seconds or otherwise, 

I to restore him or them to all the rights, privileges and immunities to 
ich he or they were entitled before such participation. 

Sec. 250. Whenever the death of a person shall result from an 
iry inflicted by negligence or wrongful act, and damages could have 
n recovered for such injury, if death had not resulted therefrom, 
n, in like manner, and in every such case, damages may be recovered 
such death. Until otherwise provided by law, the action to recover 
h damages shall in all cases be prosecuted by the personal represent- 
ee of the deceased person. The General Assembly may provide 
v and to whom the recovery in such actions shall belong ; and until 
h provision is made, the same shall form part of the personal estate 
he deceased person. 

Sec. 251. Municipal and other corporations, and individuals 
ested with the privilege of taking private property for public use, 

II make just compensation for property taken, injured or destroyed 
the construction, change or enlargement of their works, highways 
mprovements, which compensation shall be paid before such taking, 
paid or secured, at the election of such corporation or individual, 
3re such injury or destruction. The General Assembly shall not 
rive any person of an appeal from any preliminary assessment of 
lages against any such corporation or individuals made by Commis- 
lers or otherwise ; and upon appeal from such preliminary assess- 
lt, the amount of such damages shall, in all cases, be determined by 
iry, according to the course of common law. 

Sec. 252. The General Assembly shall, by law, fix the minimum 
s at which children may be employed in places dangerous to life or 
lth, or injurious to morals ; and shall provide adequate penalties for 
ations of such law. 

Sec. 253. All wage-earners in this State employed in factories, 
les, workshops, or by corporations, shall be paid for their labor in 
ful money. The General Assembly shall prescribe adequate pen- 
es for violations of this section. 



50 

SEC. 254. Upon the ratification of this Constitution by the peo 
the Governor shall appoint three persons, learned in the law, who si 
revise the statute laws of this Commonwealth, and prepare amending 
thereto, to the end that the statute laws shall conform to and effectt 
this Constitution. Such revision and amendments shall be laid be: 
the next General Assembly for adoption or rejection, in whole 01 
part. 

Skc. 255. No public officer, except the Governor, shall receive, a 
the term for which he shall have been elected at the time of the adopt 
of this Constitution, more than five thousand dollars per annum^ 
compensation for official services, independent of the compensatioi 
legally authorized deputies and assistants, which shall be fixed 
provided for by law. The General Assembly shall provide for 
enforcement of this section by suitable penalties, one of which shall 
forfeiture of office by any person violating its provisions . 

Skc. 256. The printing and binding of the laws, journals, dep 
ment reports, and all other printing and binding, shall be 
formed under contract, to be given to the lowest responsible bid 
below such maximum and under such regulations as may be prescri 
by law. No member of the General Assembly, or officer of the C 
monwealth, shall be in any way interested in any such contract ; 
all such contracts shall be subject to the approval of the Governor. 

SEC. 257. A grand jury shall consist of twelve persons, nin 
whom concurring, may find an indictment. In civil and misdeme; 
cases, in courts inferior to the Circuit Courts, a jury shall consist of 
persons. The General Assembly may provide that in any or all t: 
of civil actions in the Circuit Courts, three-fourths or more of the ju 
concurring may return a verdict, which shall have the same force 
effect as if rendered by the entire panel. But where a yerdict is 
dered by a less number than the whole jury, it shall be signed by 
the jurors who agree to it. 

Sec. 258. The House of Representatives of the General Assen 
shall not elect, appoint, employ or pay for, exceeding one Chief CI 
one Assistant Clerk, one Enrolling Clerk, one Sergeant-at-Arms, 
Doorkeeper, one Janitor, two Cloak-room keepers and four Pages ; 
the Senate shall not elect, appoint, employ or pay for, exceeding 
Chief Clerk, one Assistant Clerk, one Enrolling Clerk, one Sergean 
Arms, one Doorkeeper, one Janitor, one Cloak-room keeper and t 
Pages ; and it shall provide, by a general law, for fixing the per diet 
salary of all of said employes. 

SEC. 259. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to e 
such laws as shall be necessary and proper to decide difference 



&1 

jitrators, the arbitrators to be appointed by the parties who may 
oose that summary mode for adjustment. 

Sec. 260. No action shall be maintained for possession of any lands 
ng within this State, where it is necessary for the claimant to rely 
me for his recovery on any grant or patent issued by the Com- 
m wealth of Virginia, or by the Commonwealth of Kentucky prior to the 
ar one thousand eight hundred and twenty, against any person claim- 
\ such lands by possession to a well defined boundary, under a title 

record, unless such action shall be instituted within five years after 
s Constitution shall go into effect, or within five years after the occu- 
nt may take possession ; but nothing herein shall be construed to 
ect any right, title or interest in lands acquired by virtue of adverse 
ssession under the laws of this Commonwealth. But this section shall 
t apply to persons laboring under any legal disability, until three years 
er said disability is removed. 

Sec. 261. It shall be the duty of the General Assembly to pro- 
le by law, as soon as practicable, for the establishment and main- 
lahce of an institution or institutions for the detention, correction, 

truction and reformation of all persons under the age of eighteen 
ars, convicted of such felonies and such misdemeanors as may be desig- 
ted by law. Said institution shall be known as the ' ' House of 
iform." 

Sec. 262. Persons convicted of felony and sentenced to confinement 
the penitentiary shall be confined at labor within the walls of the 
nitentiary ; and the General Assembly shall not have the power to 
thorize employment of convicts elsewhere, except upon the public 
>rks of the Commonwealth of Kentucky, or when, for any cause, they 
a not be provided for in the penitentiary. 

Sec. 263. The Commonwealth shall maintain control of the disci- 
ne, and provide for all supplies, and for the sanitary condition of the 
ivicts, and the labor only of convicts may be leased. 

Sec. 264. The seat of government shall continue in the city of 
ankfort, unless removed by a vote of two-thirds of each House of the 

t General Assembly which convenes after the adoption of this Con- 
dition. 



52 



MODE OF REVISION. 



SEC. 265. Amendments to this Constitution may be proposed 
either House of the General Assembly at a regular session, and if sue 
amendment or amendments shall be agreed to by three-fifths of a 
the members elected to each House, such proposed amendment 
amendments, with the yeas and nays of the members of each Houj 
taken thereon, shall be entered in full iu their respective journal 
Then such proposed amendment or amendments shall be submitted 
the electors of the State for their ratification or rejection at the ne^ 
general election for members of the House of Representatives, the vo 
to be taken thereon in such manner as the General Assembly may pr 
vide, and to be certified by the officers of election to the Secretary 
State in such manner as shall be provided by law, which vote shall 1 
compared and certified by the same Board authorized by law to compa 
the polls and give certificates of election to officers for the State 
large. If it shall appear that a majority of the votes cast for ar 
against an amendment at said election was for the amendment, then tl 
same shall become a part of the Constitution of this Commonwealt 
and shall be so proclaimed by the Governor, and published in sue 
manner as the General Assembly may direct. Said amendments shs 
not be submitted at an election which occurs less than ninety da3^s fro 
the final passage of such proposed amendment or amendments. N 
more than two amendments shall be voted upon at any one time. N 
shall the same amendment be again submitted within five years after 
submission. Said amendments shall be so submitted as to allow a se 
arate vote on each, and no amendment shall relate to more than o: 
subject. But no amendment shall be proposed by the first Genei 
Assembly which convenes after the adoption of this Constitution. T 
approval of the Governor shall not be necessary to any bill, orde 
resolution or vote of the General Assembly, proposing an amendme 
or amendments to this Constitution. 

SKC. 266. Before any amendment shall be submitted to a vote, £ 
Secretary of State shall cause such proposed amendment, and the tir 
that the same is to be voted upon, to be published at least ninety da 
before the vote is to be taken thereon in such manner as may be pi 
scribed by law. 

Ssc. 267. When a majority of all the members elected to ea 
House of the General Assembly shall concur, by a yea and nay vote, 



53 

entered upon their respective journals, in enacting a law to take the 
se of the people of the State as to the necessity and expediency of calling 
invention for the purpose of revising or amending this Constitution, 
L such amendments as may have been made to the same, such law shall 
spread upon their respective journals. If the next General Assembly 
,11 in like manner concur in such law, it shall provide for having a 

I opened in each voting precinct in this State by the officers provided 
law for holding general elections at the next ensuing regular elec- 

to be held for State officers or members of the House of Represent- 
ees, which does not occur within ninety days from the final passage 
such law, at which time and places the votes of the qualified electors 

II be taken for and against calling the convention, in the same 
nner provided by law for taking votes in other State elections. 
e vote for and against said proposition shall be certified to the Secre- 
y of State by the same officers and in the same manner as in State 
:tions. If it shall appear that a majority voting on the proposition 

for calling a convention, and if the total number of votes cast for 
calling of the convention is equal to one-fourth of the number of 
lifted voters who voted at the last preceding general election in this 
te, the Secretary of State shall certify the same to the General 
embly at its next regular session, at which session a law shall be 
cted calling a convention to readopt, revise or amend this Consti- 
on, and such amendments as may have been made thereto. 
Sec. 268. The convention shall consist of as many delegates as 
re are members of the House of Representatives, and no more ; and 
delegates shall have the same qualifications and be elected from the 
le districts as said Representatives. 

SEC. 269. Delegates to such convention shall be elected at the next 
eral State election after the passage of the act calling the convention, 
ch does not occur within less than ninety days ; and they shall meet 
lin ninety days after their election at the Capital of the State, and 
tinue in session until their work is completed. 

Sec. 270. The General Assembly, in the act calling the convention, 
11 provide for comparing the polls and giving certificates of election 
he delegates elected, and provide for their compensation. 
3ec. 271. The convention, when assembled, shall be the judge of 
election and qualification of its members, and shall determine con- 
ed elections. But the General Assembly shall, in the act calling 
convention, provide for taking testimony in such cases, and for 
ing a writ of election in case of a tie. 

3ec. 272. Before a vote is taken upon the question of calling a 
vention, the Secretary of State shall cause notice of the election to 



54 



be published in such manuer as may be provided oy the act directii 
said vote to be taken. 



SCHEDULE. 



That no inconvenience may arise from the alterations and amer 
ments made in this Constitution, and in order to carry the same k 
complete operation, it is hereby declared and ordained : 

First : That all laws of this Commonwealth in force at the time 
the adoption of this Constitution, not inconsistent therewith, shall rem* 
in full force until altered or repealed by the General Assembly ; and 
rights, actions, prosecutions, claims and contracts of the State, counti 
individuals or bodies corporate, not inconsistent therewith, shall c< 
tinue as valid as if this Constitution had not been adopted. The p: 
visions of all laws which are inconsistent with this Constitution sh 
cease upon its adoption, except that all laws which are inconsiste 
with such provisions as require legislation to enforce them, shall rem* 
in force until such legislation is had, unless sooner amended or repea 
by the General Assembly. 

Second: That all recognizances, obligations and all' other inst 
ments entered into or executed before the adoption of this Consti 
tion, to the State, or to any city, town, county or subdivision ther< 
and all fines, taxes, penalties and forfeitures due or owing to t 
State, or to any city, town, county or subdivision thereof; and 
writs, prosecutions, actions and causes of action, except as othe 
herein provided, shall continue and remain unaffected by the adopt 
of this Constitution. And all indictments which shall have b 
found, or may hereafter be found, for any crime or offense commit 
before this Constitution takes effect, may be prosecuted as if 
change had taken place, except as otherwise provided in this Con 
tution. 

Third : All circuit, chancery, criminal, law and equity, law and c< 
mon pleas courts, as now constituted and organized by law, shall cj 
tinue with their respective jurisdictions until the Judges of the Circ 
Courts provided for in this Constitution shall have been elected 
qualified, and shall then cease and determine ; and the causes, actij 
proceedings then pending in said first named courts, which are disc 
tinued by this Constitution, shall be transferred to, and tried by, 



53 

:uit Courts in the counties, respectively, in which said causes, actions 

proceedings are pending. 

Fourth : At the general election on the first Tuesday after the first 
iday in November, 1895, and every four years thereafter, there shall 
lected a Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Attorney General, Auditor 
Public Accounts, Treasurer, Secretary of State, Superintendent of 
lie Instruction, Commissioner of Agriculture, Labor and Statistics, 

a Register of the Land office, for four years : Provided, That the 
ers who shall be elected to fill the several offices provided for in 

section, at the August election, 1891, shall hold their offices until 
r successors shall be elected and qualified: Provided Further, 
t the Governor elected in August, 1891, may appoint a Secretary of 
e and a Commissioner of Agriculture, Labor and Statistics as 

provided by law, who shall hold their offices until their successors 
elected and qualified, as herein provided, unless sooner removed by 
Governor. 

^ifth : Members of the House of Representatives, and Senators 
ted at the August election in 1891, and Senators then holding over, 
1 hold their offices until the 31st of December, 1892, and no longer. 
Lhe general election to be held on the first Tuesday after the first 
iday in November, 1892, there shall be elected one Senator from 
1 Senatorial district, and one Representative in each Representative 
rict. The Senators then elected shall hold their offices respectively 
wo and four years, as shall be determined by lot at the first session 
le General Assembly after their said election, and the Representa- 
3 shall hold their offices for two years. Every two years thereafter, 
e shall be elected for four years one Senator in each Senatorial dis- 

in which the term of his predecessor in office will then expire, and 
very Representative district one Representative for two years. 
^ixth : At the November election, in 1892, there shall be elected in 
1 Circuit Court district, a Judge and a Commonwealth's Attorney, 
> shall enter upon the discharge of the duties of their respective 
es on the first Monday in January after their election, and shall 
L their offices for five years, and until their successors are elected 
qualified. At the general election in November, 1897, and every 
years thereafter, there shall be elected in each of said districts a 
ge and a Commonwealth's Attorney, who shall hold their offices* 
six years, and until their successors are elected and qualified. And 
le times designated in this section, there shall be elected in each 
aty in the State a Clerk of the Circuit Court, who shall enter upon 
discharge of the duties of his office at the time, and continue in 
:e for the same time as the Circuit Judge, and until his successor 
ected and qualified. 



56 

Seventh : At the general election in November, 1894, there shall 
elected in each county in this Commonwealth a Judge of the Cou: 
Court, a Clerk of the County Court, a County Attorney, Sheriff, Jai 
Coroner, Surveyor and Assessor, and in each Justice's district c 
Justice of the Peace and one Constable, all of whom shall enter u\ 
the discharge of the duties of their offices on the first Monda}^ in J 
uary after their election, and continue in office three years, and ui 
their successors are elected and qualified. At the general election 
November, 1897, and every four years thereafter, there shall be elec 
in each county the above named officers, who shall hold their offi 
for four years, and until their successors are elected and qualifie 
Provided, That at the general election in November, 1892, there si 
be elected in each county a Sheriff, and in each Justice's distric 
Constable, who shall hold office for two years and until their succ 
sors are elected and qualified, and the Sheriff shall be ineligible 
election for the first term of four years. The Sheriffs now in ofi 
for their first terms shall be eligible to re-election in 1892. 

Eighth : All officers who may oe in office at the adoption of t 
Constitution, or who may be elected before the election of their s 
cessors, as provided in this Constitution, shall hold their respect 
offices until their successors are elected or appointed and qualified 
provided in this Constitution. * 

Ninth : All city and town officers in this State shall be elected 
appointed, as provided in the charter of each respective city and to^ 
until the general election in November, 1893, and until their succ 
sors shall be elected and qualified, at which time the terms of all st 
officers shall expire ; and at that election, and as their terms of ofi 
may thereafter expire, all officers required to be elected in cities a 
towns by this Constitution, or by general laws enacted in conform 
to its provisions, shall be elected at the general elections in Nove 
ber, but only in the odd years : Provided, That the terms of ofi 
for Police Judges who were elected for four years at the August el 
tion, 1890, shall expire on the 31st day of August, 1894, and the ter 
of Police Judges elected in November, 1893, shall begin on the fi 
day of September, 1894, and continue until the November electi< 
1897, and until their successors are elected and qualified. 

Tenth : The Quarterly Courts created by this Constitution shall 
the successors of the present statutory Quarterly Courts in the seve 
counties of this State; and all suits, proceedings, prosecutions, 
ords and judgments now pending or being in said last named cou 
shall, after the adoption of this Constitution, be transferred to t 
Quarterly Courts created by this Constitution, and shall proceed 
though the same had been therein instituted. 



57 

Eleventh: Should the office of Register of the Land Office, or the 
office of Jailer, be abolished by the General Assembly as authorized 
by this Constitution, then as to such officer or officers, the provisions 
of this schedule shall not apply. 



ORDINANCE. 



An ordinance for taking the sense of the qualified voters of the 
Commonwealth as to the ratification or rejection of the proposed 
Constitution. 

Be it ordained by the People of the Commonwealth of Kentucky in 
convention assembled as follows : 

Section :. That on each page of the poll-books prepared for 
recording the votes of the qualified voters at the various voting places 
in this State at the general election to be held therein on the first. 
Monday in August next, there shall be two contiguous parallel col- 
umns, one headed" For the Constitution," and the other "Against 
the Constitution," and each qualified voter on casting^his vote shall be 
distinctly asked by one of the officers holding the election, " Do you 
vote for or against the new Constitution?" and if he shall desire to 
vote, his vote shall be recorded in his presence in the proper column 
accordingly as he shall answer. 

Sec. 2. The Boards of Canvassers, whose duty it is by law to can- 
vass the votes and certify the result of said election in the several 
counties, shall also, at the time of making such canvass, ascertain, and 
within ten days thereafter, make out and sign duplicate certificates, 
each showing the whole number of qualified votes which shall have 
been cast for the said Constitution, and also the whole number of such 
votes which shall have been cast against the same in their respective 
counties. 

Sec. 3. Said certificates shall be enclosed in separate envelopes,, 
one to be addressed and sent at once by mail to the Secretary of State* 
and the other addressed and sent to the Secretary of the Constitu- 
tional Convention. On receipt thereof the Secretary of State shall 
file and carefully preserve said certificates in his office, and the Secre- 
tary of the Convention shall in like manner preserve those received 



68 

by him, subject to the order of said Convention when it shall reassem- 
ble. 

Sec. 4. A copy of this ordinance shall be forwarded to the Clerk 
of the County Court of each county in the State by the Secretary of 
this Convention on or before the 1st day of May next, and also printed 
with the Constitution when published, as heretofore provided; and 
the following resolution : 

Resolved, That when this Convention shall adjourn at 1 o'clock on 
Saturday the nth inst., it shall stand adjourned till 12 o'clock, meri- 
dian, on the first Wednesday in September next. 

Done in Convention on the Eleventh Day of April, Eighteen Hundred 
and Ninety-one. 

CASSIUS M. CLAY, Jr., 
Attest : President. 

Thos. G. Poors, 

Secretary. 

Friday, April n / 1891. 

Mr. Mackoy moved the following resolution, which was read and 
adopted, viz : 

Resolved, That the President and Secretary of the Convention are 
hereby directed to sign and certify the Enrolled Copy of the Constitu- 
tion adopted by this body, and that said Copy be delivered to and 
safely kept by the Secretary of State until the reassembling of this 
Convention in September next, and the Secretary of this Convention 
shall retain a copy thereof. 



CERTIFICATE. 



L,otjisvtUvE, Ky , April 18, 1891. 

Having been appointed by the President of the Convention to 

superintend the " correct printing" of the Constitution, etc. I hereby 

certify that I have carefully compared the above printed copy with 

the original, and find it correct. 

C. T. ALLEN, 

Delegate from Caldwell County 



59 



ADDRESS. 



To the People of Kentucky : 

The Convention to amend the present Constitution was called 
after twenty years of agitation and in obedience to a well-defined 
popular demand for a revision of your organic law. As your represent- 
atives, the members of this Convention, after a session of 199 legisla- 
tive days, have prepared, and now submit for your approval, the accom- 
panying instrument. It is not assumed that it is perfect, or that it 
represents the views of each member on every subject ; but after full 
discussion and mature deliberation, it is offered as the best judgment of 
the body. 

In many portions of the State there has been severe criticism as to 
length of time consumed in the preparation of the instrument. A little 
investigation will show that some of these complaints are not well 
founded, and that in many States more time has been consumed in 
framing these most important of all laws. 

The last Convention in Illinois sat 153 days, in New York nine 
months, in Ohio 253 days, in California 167 days, and in Pennsylvania 
during an entire year, at a cost to that State of $1,000,000. 

The last Legislature of Kentucky, in framing mere statutory laws, 
was in session one hundred and forty- nine days. 

In dealing with these fundamental provisions of government, haste 
would have been unseemly, and it was due to the people of the State 
that every delegate on every question should have ample time to 
express his opinions ; and from such discussion to formulate those 
great and fundamental principles essential to the organic law of a 
State such as Kentucky. 

The experience of forty years, gathered from the unparalleled 
changes in political and social life of this country, rendered many 
alterations in and additions to the Constitution not only important, but 
absolutely essential to good government. Notwithstanding this neces- 
sity for change and enlarged limitations of many general and special 
powers, a close comparison of the present and proposed Constitutions 
will show that a very large portion of the present Constitution passes 
into the new one substantially unchanged. 

The sessions of the Convention were marked by no partisan polit- 
ical discussions. All such questions were unknown and undiscussed, 
and as representatives of all the people of the State, the universal desire 



60 

was to frame a Constitution which would secure the greatest good to 
the greatest number. 

The first question which confronted every delegate was the inhibi- 
tion of special or local legislation. The General Assembly of 1889-90 
sat 149 days, and passed local laws, 'including index, covering 4,893 
pages, with a cost to the State in printing of $17,223.65, and in other 
respects $151,014.82. The average time and cost of the four pre- 
ceding Legislatures had been but little better. The disapproval of 
every person in Kentucky suggested sharp and effective remedies for 
the evils of such a system of law-making. Outside of all questions of 
economy, the demoralization of the Legislature, and the inequality of 
laws so passed, had produced the grossest wrongs, and the demand 
for a change on this subject was absolute and universal. 

In the judgment of the delegates, this has been thoroughly done. 
Legislative sessions have been limited to sixty days, and all special 
laws prohibited, where general laws can govern ; and, on a large num- 
ber of subjects which concern the general good, under the provisions 
proposed, a special law is rendered impossible. 

Something of this tremendous evil will be appreciated when it is 
stated that the official report of the Auditor shows that in the last ten 
years the General Assembly has been in session 689 days, or nearly 
one-fifth of that entire period, at an average daily cost of $1,068, and 
that, had the General Assembly been required to pass only general 
laws and been permitted to remain in session only sixty days, as 
required by the proposed Constitution, there would have been a saving 
to the State in money alone in this period the sum of $424,164.00. 

It is required in the new Constitution that all acts of incorporation 
shall be obtained hereafter under general laws, and that the expense 
of such incorporations shall be paid by those who seek them and who 
secure benefit from them. 

Another important matter is uniformity of laws applicable to 
counties, cities and towns ; now, no two of these municipal divisions in 
the State operate under the same code of laws. Tax systems, judicial 
forums and remedies, and governmental agencies generally, were arranged 
to suit the caprice or whim of the member who happened to represent 
that particular locality. A false idea of what has been called legislative 
"courtesy" allowed any member to write the statutes governing his own 
constituency. We have prepared provisions requiring that all such 
communities shall be divided into classes and shall be governed by 
general laws applicable to every member of such class throughout the 
State. 

Lotteries are inhibited, and all lottery charters now existing are re- 



61 

voked. These grants, in most instances secured by clandestine legisla- 
tion, have inflicted upon the State great disgrace and upon its people 
incalculable loss. A single clause settles this evil, places Kentucky 
abreast of the best civilization of the age, and unites her in the 
effort to repress this unmitigated shame. 

The ballot system under the new Constitution will be fully estab- 
lished. Kentucky enjoys the distinction of being the only civilized 
State which retains the viva voce system. Experience has demonstrated 
the evils of the viva voce system, and an official secret ballot, a barrier 
to bribe-givers and bribe-takers, the palladium of an honest and un- 
biased expression of popular will, as expressed at the polls, is made the 
only method of taking the sense of the voters of the Commonwealth. 

The frequency of elections has been the cause of almost universal 
complaint. It is provided in this proposed Constitution that only one 
election of any kind can be held in the State or any part thereof in any 
one year. 

The mode of revision has been held by many to be a question of 
supreme importance. Amendment to the present Constitution is impos- 
sible, and to call a new Constitutional Convention involves at least five 
years' delay and large expense. To render change a practical political 
impossibility was the avowed purpose of the framers of the Constitu- 
tion of 1849. 

The sections on revision in the new instrument permit three-fifths of 
any Legislature to propose at a regular session two amendments ; these 
may be on any subject, and, when ratified by a majority of the votes 
cast, become part of the Constitution. This plan avoids the expense 
of a convention, renders the instrument at all times capable of meeting 
the exigencies of the times, and yet it is so arranged that the ConstitUr 
;ion can not be altered or amended without a sufficient period for 
reflection. This plan is in line with the experience and judgment of 
)ther States and covers the middle ground on this subject. 

The greatest menace to freedom of the people of this country is 
:he aggregation of capital and the aggressions, consequent upon such 
tggregation, upon the rights of the individual citizen. Corporate 
vealth and influence have been most potent in all the phases of our 
>olitical affairs, and this danger has aroused the fears of the ablest and 
nost patriotic of our statesmen. The State can not afford to commit 
tself to any policy which would keep out capital, nor, on the other hand, 
an she afford to disregard the warnings of the times and remove all 
imitations upon this power. In the proposed Constitution will be 
ound such provisions as, in the judgment of your representatives, 
arefully guard the people's rights, and yet, on the other hand, grant to 



62 

corporate capital all those privileges and rights which will justify it in 
the development of the superb resources of the State. 

Many and most serious difficulties have arisen from irrevocable 
grants made by the General Assembly. We have provided that all 
grants and charters of every kind shall in the future be held subject to 
the legislative will, and with the absolute right of repeal by the State. 
Such a provision in the past would have been of untold value to the 
citizens of the State ; and while it has been in force under statutory 
enactment since 1856, unless where expressly waived by the term of the 
act itself, which was frequently done, it has been deemed of the greatest 
importance to have it incorporated in the Constitution. 

One of the most unfortunate features in the administration of Ken- 
tucky's government has been the inequality in taxation. Exemptions 
under one pretext or another have crept into hundreds of charters and 
acts, and the value of property thus relieved of its just proportion of 
taxation has reached appalling figures. The Constitution submitted to 
you confines this evil to much narrower limits, and, so far as prac- 
ticable, puts all property upon the same basis for taxation. Should 
you accept this Constitution, all property — land, bank stock and money — 
will bear, its just share of governmental burden and assume its fair 
proportion of taxes, while securing the equal protection of law. 

Unjust local taxation and the heavy increase of the debts of coun- 
ties, towns and cities have been recognized in every portion of the State 
as great evils, frequently destructive of the highest rights of property 
and leading to practical confiscation or absolute repudiation. A limit 
has been placed on all tax rates, and while it allows reasonable outlay 
in all matters requiring enterprise and development, it also places an 
impassable barrier against unwise or extravagant expenditures. 

State, county and other governmental machinery has been left prac 
tically unchanged, but the number of magistrates has been limited to 
eight in any county. 

The numbei of grand jurors has been reduced from sixteen to twelve. 
This can not, in the least, impair the efficiency of the body or the 
administration of justice, and the saving in per diem alone by 
this change in ten years will equal the entire cost of the convention. 
The average cost of grand juries in the State for the preceding two 
years was $69,777 \ tins change will save one-fourth of this amount, 
$17,500 per annum. A three-fourths verdict of juries in civil cases has 
been allowed under legislative direction. 

A uniform system of courts has been devised. In some'countie 
there are as many as four different kinds of courts, some of tbem with 
the same jurisdiction. The proposed change provides sufficient courts 



63 

and removes the evil referred to. The number of judges will be only 
very slightly increased, but- they will be more fairly distributed, and every 
county in the State will have at least three terms of Circuit Court in each 
year. It was thought wise to have only one court of last resort, 
and to provide that this shall consist of enough judges to dispatch all 
the business that may be brought before it. If five judges can not do 
the business, the General Assembly can increase the number to seven ; 
and these for many years will meet every possible demand. This 
number may be divided into sections, and thus accomplish the work of 
two courts while maintaining the uniformity of decision of one. 

In obedience to an almost unanimous public sentiment, the working 
of convicts outside the penitentiary has been prohibited, and the 
General Assembly also required to establish and maintain a State 
Reformatory Institution for juvenile offenders. 

The subject of Eastern Kentucky land titles has been one of grave 
import to the whole State. There are many Virginia grants one 
hundred years old, and yet unrecorded, the land covered by which has 
been held under patents from this State in some instances a century, 
sold many times and taxes thereon paid all these long years by persons 
ignorant of an adverse claim. And yet these ancient grants remain as 
a means of disquieting titles and a bar to the complete development 
and improvement of the richest mineral and timber districts in the 
State. Security of title is an essential in the progress of any country. 
Justice to the State and its long suffering people interested in this 
portion of the State requires a speedy and effective remedy. This 
has been given, and such provision has been made that in five years 
after the adoption of the new Constitution this great incubus upon 
the wealth and prosperity of the State will be in a fair way to be 
removed. 

The condition of the State is now such that it is believed that rail- 
ways can and will be built without the aid of local taxation, and, 
following the example of nearly all the other States of the Union, a 
provision has been inserted which, forbids cities, towns, counties or 
parts thereof, from voting a tax under any circumstances in aid of such 
corporations. 

Experience seems to have demonstrated the value and importance 
of a Railway Commission. Repeated efforts have been made by rail- 
roads to repeal the statute providing for this service, and it was thought 
wise to give more stability and consequently more efficiency to this 
Commission ; and its members have been made constitutional officers, 
and thereby rendered not only more independent, but more fearless in 
the guardianship of public interest. 



64 

The cause of common school education, always of prime importance 
in this State, will, from the work of the Convention, receive new strength. 
The direct tax coming to Kentucky; from the General Government 
amounting to over $600,000, will become part of the school fund and 
will restore to this great cause that which nearly half a century ago 
was, by adverse legislation, taken from this noble work. 

All that part of the old Constitution in conflict with the Federal 
Constitution in reference to slavery has been omitted. 

The claim has been widely made that this proposed Constitution is 
not only of extreme but of unusual detail, and unnecessarily legislative 
in its provisions. An examination will show that in the present Con- 
stitution there are about twelve thousand five hundred and eighty 
words, and this proposed one, about twenty-one thousand words, and 
therefore only about sixty per cent, larger than that of 1849-50. 

The subjects of railroads, municipalities, revenue and taxation, cor- 
porations and public charities, are covered by new articles. All these have 
been rendered necessary by the changed conditions of the State during 
the past forty years. Excluding these new matters, the proposed Con- 
stitution is shorter than the present one. The Constitution submitted 
for your approval is about the average length as that of Arkansas, 
Colorado, North and South Dakota, Washington, and shorter than that 
of Missouri, and ten per cent, shorter than that of Maryland. 

We have enumerated in this address, necessarily brief, a few of the 
more important changes which in the judgment of your representatives 
were demanded by the present condition of the State and requisite for 
the furtherance of its political and material welfare, and the whole 
instrument is submitted with the confident belief that its provisions, 
while not without defects and marked by those imperfections incident 
to all such work, and susceptible of change at the will of the people 
by its open clause, will secure certainly a more effective government, 
a more uniform distribution of burdens, a more economical administra- 
tion of all State, county and city affairs, and a more complete protec- 
tion to the common welfare. 

BENNETT H. YOUNG, Chairman: 

CURTIS F. BURNAM, 
WILLIAM H. MACKOY, 
ROBT RODES, 
SAMUEL J. PUGH, 
FRANK P. STRAUS, 
H. R. BOURLAND, 
G. B. SWANGO, 
C. T. ALLEN, 
S. E. DE HAVEN, 
WILLIAM R. RAMSEY. 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



027 272 332 1 




